


Sound and Silence

by WeWalkADifferentPath



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Conflict, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Literally just an excuse to follow Malec's love in different dimensions, M/M, Malec, Post-Episode: s01e12 Malec, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-11-05 06:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11007657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeWalkADifferentPath/pseuds/WeWalkADifferentPath
Summary: Alec nodded at Jace firmly. “It’s okay, you can trust him.”Jace frowned and shook his head, speaking slowly. “That’s not what you said last time.”Magnus felt his stomach clench again, harder. He tensed. What couldthatmean?--Jace is acting strange, the Seelies are keeping secrets, and Magnus and Alec are left to pick up the pieces.Things have been pretty good for them since they confessed their love for each other outside of the Institute. But what happens when their relationship is challenged? Are they 'meant to be' in every universe? And what happened to Jace?A Malec-centered multi-dimensional fic.





	1. Where the Sidewalk Ends

**Author's Note:**

> The title of the fic is from a quote by Suzy Kassem: "Every spark returns to darkness. Every sound returns to silence. Every flower returns to sleep with the earth. The journey of the sun and moon is predictable. But yours, is your ultimate art.”
> 
> This will probably be the shortest chapter from here on out! Feel free to leave comments or suggestions :) The title of the chapter is from a poem by Shel Silverstein. 
> 
> _**I do have a mild TW:**_ there is some non-consensual contact in this, but it's pretty brief, and not malicious in nature. Still, if you have difficulty with that, feel free to contact me at my blog info below and I can fill you in so you're prepared.

Alec sighed. How was it 5pm already? He was pretty sure that he’d looked at a clock about an hour ago and seen 2pm. Was it daylight savings, or something? 

He shook his head and sped up his pace down the hall. He just had a few more messages to deliver, a few more reports to fill out, and then he could go home. 

_Home._ He smiled to himself, automatically feeling a little tension release from his shoulders. 

Magnus hadn’t technically asked Alec to move in with him yet, but he hadn’t needed to, really. Alec had been staying there virtually every night since everything with Valentine. Well, at least every night that he could come home to _anywhere;_ more and more often lately he’d been called away to work overnights. But when he was free, he was at Magnus’s. 

And since Alec had so few possessions, he was basically already moved in. 

He let the warmth in his chest bloom as he thought of coming home tonight. Walking in _his_ door, with _his_ key, and coming to sit on _his_ couch under _his_ blankets. And maybe, if he was lucky, he’d have his boyfriend there next to him, too. 

Alec felt a little bit of his tension come back, and sped up again. Magnus had been extremely busy lately- as the High Warlock of Brooklyn, he’d been doing some serious damage control since the Soul Sword incident- and Alec was worried about him. He knew Magnus could hold his own and take care of himself, but… well, sometimes he forgot to.

Besides, Alec missed his boyfriend. 

Sensing that his patience was nearing gone, Alec resolved to do his work as quickly as possible, and bring home whatever he could. If Magnus was home tonight, he wanted to take advantage of it. 

Turning a corner sharply, he scanned ahead to look for- 

“Ooph!”

Alec ran into a wall. A wall that said “ooph” apparently. 

Blinking, Alec gasped to get his breath back as he took in whatever it was he’d actually run into. Or who, it seemed. 

“Jace?” 

Jace looked up, startled, and then broke out into the widest grin Alec had seen from his parabatai in months. “Alec, thank the Angel!” he yelled, wrapping his arms around Alec tightly. “Oh thank goodness it’s you.”

Alec felt himself stiffen a little. Thank _goodness?_ What had gotten into Jace? 

“Why are you so cheery? Did something happen?” Alec asked, probing his gaze across his parabatai to search for any signs of injury. At the same time, he drew his own attention to their parabatai bond, hoping to glean a clue there, but-

Hm. That was weird. 

His bond with Jace had been growing steadily stronger since they’d finally made peace with each other, but it took time, so their bond was still a little rocky. Or had been, at least. 

Now their bond seemed strong, almost alive in its robustness. But it also felt… wrong. It wasn’t strong in a completely positive way; it was also sort of, melancholy? Confused? Alec felt it pulse under him in an unfamiliar way and immediately the hairs on his neck started to stand up. 

Jace pulled back to look Alec in the eye. “I’m just so glad I found you. I don’t know what’s happening, something’s wrong.” 

Alec shook away his feelings about their bond, pushing it aside to deal with later. He looked at Jace closely. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, I think I took a nap or something about an hour ago, and when I woke up… well look around!” he gestured with his arms to the whole of the Institute. “Aren’t you seeing it too?”

His expression was so _Jace_ that Alec felt some of his concern start to ebb, even as his confusion grew. He peered around carefully. “I don’t see anything different.” 

Jace sighed and put his head in his hands. “I think I’m going crazy” he mumbled mournfully. 

Alec felt his stomach sink in the way it always did when one of his siblings was upset. “Hey” he said gently, and took one of Jace’s wrists. “Don’t worry, okay? I’m sure you’re just tired, but if something is wrong, we’ll figure it out.” 

Jace looked up, smiling again already. “You always make me feel better” he said dreamily. 

Alec smiled. Okay, so this was a little weird, but it was under control. They’d had a really long past couple of months; who knew what kind of side-effects that could have on someone’s mental state? Jace was probably just-

“Mmphh, _wha-?_ ” 

Alec stumbled backward, almost losing his footing as Jace’s lips were suddenly pushed against his own. 

Dimly Alec felt himself freeze, standing there blankly as Jace caught his shoulders to steady him and locked him into a deep kiss. His mind shut down, pulse ringing in his ears, and all he could seem to do was think _no no no this is wrong, what is happening?_

After what felt like an eternity too long he got his wits back and pulled away, sputtering. “Jace what the _hell?”_

Jace looked up at him, batting his eyelashes innocently. “What? Too public for you?” 

Alec stared at him. “Too _public?_ What- huh?” 

Jace raised a shoulder in his signature cocky shrug, and smirked, but he looked a little contrite. “Sorry. I know you’re not a fan. I just- I needed it. I’m feeling a little off balance today.” 

Alec’s mind wasn’t working. He wanted to say something- needed to say something- to figure this out, but his mind just kept repeating _what the hell_ on an endless loop. 

“I’m with Magnus” he finally got out. 

Jace’s eyes registered with complete shock. “ _Magnus?_ The Warlock?” 

Alec looked at him sharply, his confusion making him frustrated. “Yeah, Jace. The Warlock. You know, my boyfriend? What’s gotten into you?” 

Jace laughed, but it was the kind of laugh that someone does when they think they’re being pranked, as if they aren’t sure they should be finding this funny. “Okay, Alec, that’s a good one. Like you’d be dating a Warlock! Let alone _that_ one, right?” 

Alec felt his blood go cold. This wasn’t right. Jace was thoughtless sometimes, but never cruel, and he always knew when to stop a joke. And as much as Jace would never admit it, Alec knew that he cared for Magnus. He would never do anything that could hurt him willingly. 

Alec shook his head, realization dawning on him. “You don’t remember, do you?” 

Jace’s expression cracked. “I- what?” 

“You don’t remember Magnus.”

Jace frowned. “No, of course I do. But Alec he’s- you- _I’m_ your boyfriend.” 

If Alec had thought that he couldn’t get any more shocked from this conversation, he was wrong. “I- Jace, you’re straight!” 

Okay, so maybe not the most eloquent thing that he could have said, but hey, it was true. 

As far as Alec knew, anyways. 

Jace gaped at him. “Uhm, clearly I’m _not._ Okay, look Alec, what’s going on here? Are you trying to prank me?” he looked around at the Institute again wearily, as if he didn’t quite recognize it. “Is everyone?” 

Alec watched Jace’s expression, felt again for the weird vibe coming from his parabatai bond, and made up his mind. 

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his phone out to call the one person who might be able to make some sense of this. 

\---

Seven and a half minutes later, Alec pulled a frantic Jace toward the portal that Magnus had opened for them in Alec’s room. 

“Alec-“ Jace’s eyes were wide with fear. “No! That’s a portal, we can’t go through that!” 

“Yes we can” Alec said calmly. “Just hold on tight to me, okay?” Alec was betting that if Jace didn’t remember Magnus, he wouldn’t remember his loft either, and he didn’t want to risk Jace ending up anywhere else. 

Jace shook his head. “No. Alec, what’s going on? We can’t-“

Alec sighed and grabbed Jace’s hand. “Trust me” he said sternly. Jace looked at him with confusion and fear, but nodded, and set his shoulders resolutely. 

Alec couldn’t help but feel a weird sense of pride that Jace trusted him so completely even when he was clearly off his rocker. _This is why we’re parabatai._ No matter what else was going on, at least it seemed that that hadn’t changed. 

But then he grimaced, reminding himself that the parts that _had_ changed were exactly why they needed to get to Magnus’s, now, so he set his own shoulders. They both stepped through with hands linked together tight.


	2. Where the Tide Goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malec is cute, Magnus has a bit of fun, and Clary and Izzy get summoned for something unusual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is another fairly short chapter, and not super duper exciting. I'm trying to lay a bit of a foundation but I still had some fun with Magnus ;) Next chapter will have some new characters introduced and things should start to heat up a bit. Feel free to leave comments (let me know what you want to see)! And my blog info is below.

Magnus hummed as he changed, pulling off his ridiculously tight jeans and exchanging them for more comfortable sweat pants. It had been a very long day, and he was looking forward to nothing more than cuddling up with Alec on the couch tonight to watch some mundane television. 

He swung his hips a little as he pulled off his shirt and poofed it into the closet. He hadn’t seen Alec much lately, and he knew that it was starting to worry his boyfriend. Alec had been making it his mission lately to ensure that Magnus took time alone for himself. 

Which was sweet, truly. But what Magnus really wanted was time alone _with Alec,_ which seemed to be happening less and less often lately. 

He smiled as he thought about how Alec would probably come home tonight. He’d let himself in with his key, a little hesitantly- Alec hadn’t quite gotten used to the whole _you can come in any time_ thing- and then he’d take off his boots, leaving them neatly to the side. He would hang up his coat and drop his weapons in the chest by the door. And then he’d look for Magnus. 

When Magnus came out, Alec would grin, and peck him on the lips, and whisper “I love you” into Magnus’s ear. Magnus would feel his heart soar, and then he and Alec would stare dopily at each other for a minute or two. 

It was the same thing that happened every time Alec came home. It was their routine, and Magnus had loved nothing more in his long life. 

Yet, it was beginning to happen less often. The sequence would end with Alec leaving his weapons and walking into an empty house. Or with Magnus coming home to find Alec already asleep. 

Then there was Jace. He had slotted himself almost effortlessly into their routine; at some point during the night, he would quietly enter the loft and go to his room to sleep, and then he'd be be gone by morning. The only problem was that as soon as he came in, and again when he left, Alec would tense perceptibly. Jace was clearly hurting. Which meant that Alec was hurting too. 

But tonight- tonight he and Alec would be alone together. Magnus’s stomach filled with butterflies as he thought of the grin waiting for him when he surprised Alec with dinner. 

His phone bleeped, pulling him out of his thoughts. _Speak of the angel, as they say._

[Alexander the Bae] Magnus… are you home? We may have a problem.

Magnus felt his stomach sink a little. Was Alec going to have to stay late at work? 

[From Magnus] I am. What’s up darling? 

[Alexander the Bae] It’s Jace. Something’s wrong. 

Magnus frowned. What could possibly be wrong with the Wayland boy now, that wasn’t already wrong? He’d had an almost comical streak of bad luck these past few weeks. Could anything top that?

[From Magnus] What kind of wrong?

[Alexander the Bae]………. Jace may have kissed me?

 _He did what?_

Magnus stared at his phone, shocked. He read the text again- twice- before he laughed. 

[From Magnus] This is a joke, right? 

[Alexander the Bae] Afraid not. I think he’s lost his memory or something. 

Magnus stared harder at his phone, trying to decipher the meaning of what he was reading. Alec had never played a prank on him before, certainly not over text, but maybe if Jace had gotten to his phone? 

He tried not to let himself think about the fact that Alec may be telling the truth. He wasn’t too worried about the memory loss itself necessarily, but it would certainly make things complicated, and additional complication was not something that any of them needed right now.

Making up his mind that he’d have to find out one way or another, he snapped his fingers. 

[From Magnus] I made a portal in your room. Come over. If this is a joke, Alexander, then so help me you’ll wish I was my father! 

Magnus smiled to himself. He had so very rarely been able to joke with another person about the difficult or unfortunate pieces of his life. Not without it invoking disgust, confusion, or worst of all, pity. Alec’s lightness toward Magnus’s past wasn’t something that he took for granted. 

The past couple of weeks had been hard on everyone, but Magnus couldn’t remember another time in the last century that he had been this happy. 

His phone beeped again.

[Alexander the Bae] Jace seems to be against the idea of a portal? But I’m not taking him on the subway like this. Can you keep it open for a minute? 

[From Magnus] Sure thing sweet pea. Get here soon. 

[Alexander the Bae] Don’t call me sweet pea!  
[Alexander the Bae] … <3

Magnus smiled at his phone, endeared, before he realized he’d better get changed. As much as he had gotten used to Jace (and as much as he loved his comfy clothes), he still wasn’t quite ready for Jace to see him like this. 

Besides, if Jace really _had_ lost his memory, and _had_ kissed Alec…. Well, this could be fun, couldn’t it? 

\---

“Ha, got you!” Clary shouted. “I told you I could- wha-hey!” 

Clary harrumphed as she found herself staring up at the ceiling for the fifth time since she’d started training with Izzy. _Eight minutes ago._ “Owwww” she whined. 

Izzy’s head appeared above her. “Sorry” she said lightly, sounding anything but sorry. 

Clary chuckled, taking Izzy’s hand and letting herself be pulled up rather ungracefully. She rolled her shoulders painfully, then frowned. “I really thought I had you this time.” 

Izzy shrugged. “You got cocky. I think Jace must be rubbing off on you.” 

“Not true! I’m nothing like-“ 

“Who’s Jace rubbing up against?” Raj walked into the training area, wiggling his eyebrows wildly. Clary caught Izzy rolling her eyes. 

“No one. Izzy said-“

Raj put up a hand, cutting her off. “Yeah, suddenly I’m not interested.”

Clay huffed. “Rude." 

Izzy practically growled. “What do you want, Raj?” 

Raj glanced at Izzy and then looked away, swallowing. “Oh. By the way, I guess I never told you but, I- I’m glad you’re feeling better, Izzy.” He rubbed at the back of his neck in a similar gesture to the one that Alec did when he was nervous. Not for the first time, Clary wondered how much Shadowhunters rubbed off on _each other,_ living together in the same Institute and sheltered from the rest of the world for most of their childhoods.

His tone was surprisingly genuine, though, and Izzy’s eyebrows went up. “Oh. Thanks?”

Raj cleared his throat. “Yeah, uhm. Yeah.” 

Clary looked between the two of them, completely confused. “Are you two like, friends now? When did this happen?” 

Izzy shot Clary a seething look at the same time that Raj said “A few weeks ago.” 

Izzy’s head snapped to him, startled. “We are _not_ friends.” 

Raj laughed, patting Izzy on the back and ignoring the murderous glare she gave his arm. “Whatever you say, Iz.” 

Clary swiveled her gaze between the two of them, feeling a little like she was watching a ping-pong tournament. Did Shadowhunters play ping-pong? She made a mental note to ask Alec later (he’d have the funniest reaction, probably). 

She turned to Raj, deciding to pocket the Izzy/Raj drama to deal with later, too. 

“What is it you’re here for?” she asked, trying to sound a little less accusatory than Izzy had. But honestly, she wasn’t exactly Raj’s biggest fan either. 

He frowned at her as if just now noticing her presence. “Oh. Yeah. We heard rumours that the Seelies were sending a group over here. We don’t know what they want, but our sources say it looks serious. None of the higher-ups are here, and we’ve notified everyone that we could contact but…”

“But you weren’t sure who to send to meet them in the meantime.” Clary finished, nodding. 

Still, she couldn't help but be surprised. The Seelies rarely initiated contact with the Institute, preferring to keep predominantly to themselves. Sending a group over without warning, on Shadowhunter turf, was definitely unusual. 

Then again, after the Soul Sword… 

Well, this could be dangerous, couldn’t it? It could be anything.

They were going in blind. But it didn't seem like they had much other choice, and Clary was sure that it wouldn't be wise to keep the Seelies waiting.

She made eye contact with Izzy. “Are you- are things okay, with Meliorn?” The two had a bit of a weird history, with an on again off again relationship that ended permanently shortly after Meliorn was arrested. Izzy hadn’t talked to him much since, focused on recovering from the Yin Fen, and Clary wasn’t sure where they stood now. Izzy was always the best option to meet with Seelies, and Clary always felt better with Izzy on her team, but she wouldn't ask her to come if it would be hard for her. “If not, I’ll go alone.” 

“No” Izzy said, “It’s fine. We’re fine. I want to come.” 

Clary stared at her for a long moment; Izzy met her gaze, with her chin up and eyes blazing in a way that Clary hadn't seen in weeks.

She nodded slowly. “Okay. Then let’s go find what they want.” 

\--- 

By the time Magnus had changed and walked out to the living room, he felt a ripple in the portal. Sure enough, a second later Alec stepped out, with a skittish looking Jace attached to his hip. 

“Magnus, thank Raziel.” Alec stepped forward, wrapping Magnus in a tight one-armed hug. 

One-armed, because his other arm still seemed to be in the possession of his parabatai. Magnus raised an eyebrow at their joined hands, and Alec shrugged. “He wouldn’t come unless I promised not to let go of him. Apparently he thinks we’re dating.” 

Magnus sighed dramatically. If this was a prank, Alec was now officially involved in it, which seemed unlikely. But Magnus was still having trouble buying this story. 

Deciding to go along with it for now, he turned his gaze on Jace, assessing him coolly. “And what’s wrong with _you,_ little Shadowhunter?” 

Jace quivered under Magnus’s gaze. “I- I don’t know, Warlock Bane. Alec thinks I’ve lost my memory. I-“ he trailed off, lowering his head respectfully. “Sorry to disturb you in your home.” 

Magnus raised an eyebrow. _Hmm._ Jace did have ways to show his gratitude or guilt when he wanted to, but absolutely none of them involved actual apologies or thanks, at least where Magnus was concerned. Until now, it seemed.

He made eye contact with Alec, who shrugged. “I know, right?” 

Alec tilted his head and stared at him, and Magnus caught the moment when he noticed; he looked Magnus up and down skeptically, and his face when they made eye contact was a clear: _really Magnus?_

He shrugged. What could he say? He had a reputation to maintain. 

Magnus looked down, fidgeting with his shirt where it lay across his stomach. He’d chosen red leather pants, boots with heels, and a silver-threaded black shirt with a high collar. He’d completed the ominous look with more accessories than he’d worn together in years- including his spiked rings- thick black eye liner, and blue in his softly spiked hair. 

Okay, so maybe he had gone a little overboard. But nobody could accuse Magnus Bane of being the type of man to pass up an opportunity for fun, no matter how petty it may be. 

Magnus scanned his eyes over Jace again, straightening himself almost comically to tower over the boy. He let his magic drift out of his fingers and wrap around him like a tendril of blue smoke; Jace watched it wearily, gulping audibly. 

Magnus _may_ have dimmed the lights a little too, just for ambience. And it was _possible_ that the ominous-looking potion bubbling behind him didn’t actually _have_ to be there, strictly speaking. 

But honestly, Jace was the biggest cock-block _ever._ Magnus deserved a little revenge.

He heard Alec groan softly and chuckle. “Mags don’t mess with him, he’ll pee himself.” 

Magnus smirked and waved his hand dismissively as Jace looked up at him with awe. “Have you ever seen a High Warlock before, Wayland?” he asked, in his best High Warlock Voice. 

Jace frowned. “Wayland? I mean- no, sir. Well yes, sir, but just _you_ \- as you know, I guess- a couple of times.”

Magnus frowned back at him. _Why the reaction to Wayland?_ “Are you going by Lightwood again? Surely not." He tilted his head. "That might make dating Alec a little awkward, no? Even ignoring the fact that he is my boyfriend.” 

Jace’s eyes widened. “ _Your_ boyfriend?” he glanced quickly to Alec. “That’s what Alec said but I- I don’t understand. I-“ he gulped again. 

Magnus stared at him intently for another moment, contemplating.

Then he turned- instantly softening- toward Alec. “So what’s up with this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hang on to the lightness and humour, folks, because this fic will live up to the angst tag. Next chapter should be up shortly!
> 
> Also, what's the deal with Raj and Izzy? Hmm...
> 
> Come yell at me at wewalkadifferentpath.tumblr.com


	3. Stone and Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seelies pay a visit, Magnus figures shit out, and Meliorn gets a chance to reflect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title based on a poem by Stephen R. Donaldson: 
> 
> “Stone and sea are deep in life  
> Two unalterable symbols of the world  
> Permanence at rest  
> And permanence in motion  
> Participants in the power that remains” 
> 
> Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you want to see, things are heating up!

“Meliorn.”

Izzy froze at the sound of Clary saying his name, before her eyes had even found him. _Meliorn._ He was standing rigidly near the front- but slightly off-center- of the large group of Seelies, clearly in a position meant for someone of secondary or tertiary rank. 

Something heavy settled in Izzy’s stomach. He shouldn’t be there… He used to be the primary liaison for the Seelies, but ever since the Soul Sword, everything had changed. He had trusted Luke’s judgement- trusted all of their judgements- and they’d failed him. 

They’d failed everyone. _So many Downworlder lives lost that night…_

She shook her head, blinking out of her thoughts. She could wallow in guilt later; she _had_ been feeling guilty most of the time lately. But right now she had a job to do, and it was one she did well, so she would do it. 

There were eight Seelie envoys, all dressed as Knights of the Court. The one at the front was garbed in jewelry and finery in addition to his armor, which Izzy thought was rather impractical (but then again, maybe she wasn’t one to talk on that subject. If she could fight in heels, who said he couldn’t fight in pearls, shells, and silk?). It was clear that he was meant to be the leader. Izzy didn’t recognize him, but he was looking at her as though she was familiar; she was used to that gaze in men, and figured with some amusement that the Seelie’s lust for her may come in handy.

Smiling widely, she stepped forward, transitioning smoothly into her charming-yet-diplomatic persona. “Seelies. How lovely to see you all.” 

She addressed the whole group, but deliberately kept her gaze on Meliorn, who was looking at her blankly as if he didn’t even recognize her. 

She pulled her eyes away from him reluctantly. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” 

She and Clary had met the Seelies just outside of the Institute steps. It was both a precaution and a gesture of compromise. The Shadowhunters weren’t comfortable hosting an unannounced group of Downworlder knights inside of the Institute, and the Seelies weren’t exactly comfortable there either. As another gesture, Izzy and Clary had decided to meet them alone. 

Of course, there were other Shadowhunters waiting and watching on screens within the Institute, just in case, but that was the way of their world and neither party would be surprised by the precaution. In fact, Izzy would be surprised if the Seelies hadn’t done the same. There was probably another group watching somewhere nearby. 

The adorned Seelie at the front of the group stepped forward to meet her. “Isabelle Lightwood” he said smoothly, inclining his head. 

She held in a flinch at the way he said her name. It was the way that Meliorn had always spoken it: as if he were either revering her or mourning her, but only he knew which, and he took great pleasure in that secret. 

She knew that names held special significance for some Seelies so she shouldn’t have been surprised. Still, she held herself carefully to avoid giving away the unexpected flash of hurt. 

“I see that you already know my name” she said cordially. “Perhaps you would be kind enough to extend me the honour of knowing yours?” 

The Seelie smiled, and it was both wicked and beautiful, as Seelies often were. “Alastor. I am both Advisor to the Queen and a Knight of the Realm.” Izzy noted with disdain- and admittedly some attraction- that he looked like an elf from one of Simon’s dorky movies: long and lithe, with sandy blond hair that came down past his shoulders in elegant braids.

“Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to exchange pleasantries today. There has been an emergency in the Seelie Realm.”

Clary’s head whipped up and she spoke for the first time since acknowledging Meliorn. “An emergency? What kind of emergency?”

Alastor’s gaze flickered to Clary briefly, then back to Isabelle, clearly deciding that she was the authority. He kept his eyes on her as he answered. “That information is… limited, on a need-to-know basis. The reason that we are here is because we need to speak to Magnus Bane.”

Izzy raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Magnus?” 

_What could they want with him?_

“We have on good authority that you Shadowhunters have gained the affections of the High Warlock” Alastor said simply. 

Clary nodded slowly, clearly puzzling things out. Isabelle didn’t feel any clearer herself. “I don’t understand” she said carefully. “Why not go to him in his loft?” 

Alastor quirked an eyebrow, silent, and Meliorn stepped forward. “He has wards up around his loft, so that we are not welcome there without express invitation.”

Izzy tilted her head, confused. That didn’t sound like Magnus, but surely… oh. It was probably a precaution he’d taken after the Soul Sword. Jace was living with him, and although Izzy didn’t like to think about it, she knew that her brother could be a target now. Her stomach felt heavy as she thought of Magnus- who trusted most Downworlders quite intimately- needing to put up extra wards for the sole purpose of keeping any Seelies away from her brother. 

But still, there was something she didn’t understand. “Why don’t you just call him?” she asked. 

A few of the other Seelies snorted, but Meliorn stepped forward again. Izzy resisted the urge to step back. “We do not have his phone number” he explained. “Most of our people are not accustomed to communicating that way, since we do not have reception in our realm. And our fire messages have not received responses.” 

Izzy nodded. It had always seemed a little ridiculous to her that they shunted technology to the point where they couldn’t even contact the High Warlock in an emergency, but she figured she would be a hypocrite to start judging their customs now. 

Of course, she was curious about what they could want. This was starting to get more and more unusual. She was tempted to call Alec to warn him ahead of time, since he was so often with Magnus. That, or demand more information from the Seelies before agreeing to get Magnus involved at all. 

But Magnus could take care of himself and his own business. Starting a conflict with the Seelies now, just because she was feeling protective of a centuries-old High Warlock, would not be a strategic move. 

She sighed reluctantly, and Alastor raised another delicate eyebrow at her.

“Okay” she said finally. “I’ll call him.” 

\--- 

Alec walked over to the couch with Jace, who still hadn’t let go of his hand (much to Magnus’s chagrin). Magnus turned the lights back up as they all sat down, but he decided to leave the cauldron bubbling. Sue him. 

“I don’t know what’s going on” Alec said. He was rubbing his thumb against his palm now, tone serious, and it seemed to be becoming increasingly likely that this wasn’t a joke. “I just ran into him in the hallways of the Institute, and he grabbed me in a hug. He said he was happy to see me because nothing was making sense anymore. Apparently he’d taken a nap and when he woke up things were different? And that’s when…” Alec trailed off, before gesturing vaguely between him and Jace. 

“When he kissed you” Magnus finished. 

Alec nodded. “Yeah. Sorry.” 

He was sitting stiffly, curling his free hand into his lap like a child about to be scolded, so Magnus smiled. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Alexander. As long as I’m still your favourite, of course” he added, with a teasing wink. 

Alec smiled warmly, immediately softening. “Always.” 

Magnus’s heart skipped, even though it wasn’t nearly the first time he’d heard something like that from his boyfriend. “Well thank you darling” he said easily. “You’re my favourite too.” _Maybe my favourite ever._

He turned his attention back to Jace, who’d been watching the conversation with quiet intrigue. “Now, let’s see what’s going on with you, shall we?” 

He began to let his magic creep toward the boy; Jace flinched, moving automatically to position himself over Alec as if to shield his body. “Wait, what are you-“

Magnus paused his magic and rolled his eyes so hard that it actually hurt. “Relax Jason, it won’t hurt you.” 

Jace turned his head up to Alec for confirmation, a vulnerable look in his eyes. The gesture was so intimate, and so familiar between _himself_ and Alec, that Magnus felt his stomach clench. 

He’d told himself he wouldn’t be jealous, but… 

But no. He had no reason to be jealous. That was clear enough even from Alec’s face, which seemed to be torn between concern and complete frustration. Alec nodded at Jace firmly. “It’s okay, you can trust him.” 

Jace frowned and shook his head, speaking slowly. “That’s not what you said last time.” 

Magnus felt his stomach clench again, harder. He tensed. What could _that_ mean? 

He looked to Alec, hoping for an explanation, but he seemed just as lost. “What do you mean, Jace?” Alec asked tentatively. 

Jace looked at him like he was stupid. “At the dinner party. You came out from the back room and when I asked you what was going on, all you said was _don’t trust the Warlock._ Er- sorry, Mr. Bane” he tacked on, seemingly remembering who was in his audience. 

Magnus squinted. A party? It was unlikely enough that Alec would actually say something like that to begin with, but Magnus had no memory of a party they’d been to recently. This was making less and less sense… 

_Unless…._

“Jace, what last name do you use?” 

Jace tilted his head. “Herondale, sir. It’s my parent’s name.” 

“ _Is_ your parent’s name? Present tense?”

Jace looked concerned, but at a reassuring squeeze of his hand from Alec, he nodded firmly. 

“And you were under the impression that you and Alec have been dating?” Magnus asked. Jace’s eyes went wide, but he nodded again. 

Magnus sighed. _Well this is not good._

Alec looked at him intently, and even Jace seemed to sit up straighter. “Did you figure out what’s wrong?” Alec asked. 

_I think so, and you’re not going to like it._

But just as Magnus opened his mouth to answer, the phone rang. 

\--- 

Meliorn was standing just outside of the front steps of the Institute, waiting for the appearance of the portal that would take him to Magnus Bane’s loft, when someone grabbed his arm. 

“Isabelle.” He didn’t have to turn and look to know that it was her, so he didn’t.

He heard her sigh, and repressed the urge to turn and move a lock of hair out of her face. Her sigh had always been a musical noise, soft and tired and sorrowful. It was a sound that very few had the privilege to hear, he was sure. 

_Had Raphael?_ he let himself wonder. Did he see this side of Isabelle- or even more, perhaps? 

“Meliorn.” 

He waited, patiently, as she collected her thoughts. An Isabelle who was floundering for words was also a rare sight, and one he didn’t intend to interrupt. 

“I wanted to ask- are we- are we alright?”. 

Meliorn continued to look ahead- and not at her- as he considered. His blood made it impossible for him to lie, but that didn’t mean that feelings weren’t often ambiguous. “Define alright.” 

She huffed a little, impatient as ever, but Meliorn didn’t mind because it was familiar, and it made him feel fond. 

“Are we _okay?_ ” she asked. At his dubious eyebrow raise, she changed course again. “Are you _mad_ at me?” 

He tilted his head, and this time he let his gaze wander down to flicker across where Isabelle was standing next to him, without actually looking directly at her. “I am not.”

He wasn’t. He _had_ been, probably, but intense emotions of that kind were often fleeting for his people. It was impractical to be angry with her, so he no longer was. She had not asked him if he was mad at the Raphael, or the Clave laws, or the universe in itself; all of which were questions that may have warranted a different answer, if Meliorn were to ever linger on them long enough to find out. 

But was he angry with her? No, not currently. 

She nodded slowly, still holding onto his arm with a feather light grip. “And are- how are things, with you, Meliorn? I know after the Soul Sword…” 

He cut off her quickly “I think you know how things are, Isabelle.” 

He looked at her again, in time to see her bite her lip. “Yes. I think I do. I’m sorry for everything, Meliorn, I hope you know that.” 

He nodded in understanding, but didn’t answer. He did _not_ know that she was sorry, so he would've been unable to agree with her. Perhaps she thought that she was sorry. Perhaps she truly was-it was possible- but somehow he doubted it. 

In his experience with Shadowhunters- even the more “liberal-minded” like young Isabelle- they were very often ashamed, but not often sorry. 

Sorry requires commitment to change. 

“I could come with you, you know” she offered after a moment, having realized that he wasn’t going to answer her. “To Magnus’s. It might make things go more smoothly.” 

Meliorn was no fool; he knew that the High Warlock had little trust for his people anymore, and he supposed he couldn’t blame him for it. 

After that blond Shadowhunter had slaughtered a whole Institute’s worth of Downworlders, he was sure to be a target. The only reason the Seelie Queen hadn’t already demanded his head on a platter, Meliorn was quite sure, was because she wanted to use him for something else later on. 

Something unsavory, most likely. 

So while he couldn’t say that he was happy about having to visit the Warlock on his territory alone, it wasn’t unexpected. Magnus had clearly instructed Isabelle that Meliorn was to be the only one to come through the portal. Meliorn may have had a tenuous relationship with Magnus Bane himself- and particularly with his Shadowhunter boyfriend- but he was not an idiot, and Magnus knew it. 

Many of his kind let their emotions influence their actions, often blazing into trouble based on principle rather than strategy. Those of his brethren, he knew, were much more likely try to attack Magnus Bane, even with the seriousness of the current situation. They would ultimately get themselves killed in the process, but they would try. 

Meliorn was not one of those. His self-preservation instinct was strong, and he knew that he was equipped to get the message across without letting his emotions take over. 

Which brought him back to Isabelle’s offer. 

“No, Isabelle” he told her firmly. “As was said, this information is confidential. You would not be able to stay and listen in any case.” 

Isabelle sighed but ultimately relented. He knew that she hated being out of the action. 

But he also couldn’t help but wonder how much of this was her concern for him. 

Before either of them could say anything else, however, the portal opened, and Isabelle let go of his arm. “Good luck” she told him. 

“Thank you,” he replied earnestly. “It seems as though we all will need it.”


	4. Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec is not a fan of Meliorn (but he is a fan of his boyfriend), the gang finally gets some answers, and Alec has a moment with Jace that may have some unintended consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo this is a little later than I was hoping to get this chapter out, but I put what was going to be two chapters together so there's that. Feel free to leave comments or hmu at wewalkadifferentpath.tumblr.com .
> 
> Also, let me know in the comments what you want to see in the next chapter- more of this story line, or should we pop by and check out how World Inverted Malec is doing first?

As Izzy watched Meliorn getting ready to step into the portal, she was hit with a sudden fondness. Not a romantic one- or lust- the way she used to feel for him, but more… protective. 

So when he turned down her offer to come, she was unsurprised, but still disappointed. 

She let go of his arm. “Good luck.” 

He turned back, taking her in with his intense stare for a moment, and then lowered his eyes. She felt something rush wildly through her chest at the little gesture, which she knew was a sign of respect but also of deep solemnity.

“Thank you. It seems as though we all will need it.” 

She nodded, feeling inexplicably overwhelmed. She reached out to stop him one more time from stepping through, letting her hand skim down the side of his arm. “Be safe.”

He looked at her again, and she thought finally, _finally,_ he was seeing her. He nodded curtly. “Isabelle.” 

And then he disappeared into the portal. 

_Isabelle._ His last word hung heavy in the air for a moment, so much so that Izzy felt like she could still hear it echoing around her. Isabelle. 

_As if he were either revering her or mourning her, but only he knew which, and he took great pleasure in that secret._

What Izzy had never told him was that she knew which one it was. 

She was never the one being mourned, always the one mourning. But she could pretend that reverence was the same thing as longing for a little while, when she was with him. 

Izzy was never the one being mourned. But this time if felt like he was mourning her. 

_Thank you,_ he’d said. _We all will need it._

Until now, she had assumed that the emergency was a Seelie problem. But the way that Meliorn had said “we all” seemed more encompassing. Like he was talking about the whole world, somehow. 

Izzy almost rolled her eyes at herself for being dramatic, before something else hit her. Most Seelies didn’t believe in luck; whenever Izzy had wished him good luck previously, Meliorn had only shaken his head and laughed. 

So either he had had a change in his spiritual beliefs since the last time they had talked, or something else was going on that was causing Meliorn to grab whatever chance at help he could, whether he believed in it or not. 

Izzy hoped it was the former, and not something much more ominous. 

\--- 

 

“You will have to agree to an oath of secrecy.” 

“What?” Alec whirled, charging back over to where the Seelie was standing at attention, just steps in from where he’d come out of the portal. He jabbed his finger in Meliorn’s face. “I think I must have heard you wrong. It sounded like you just said that Magnus and I have to swear ourselves to _secrecy_ in order to receive information- information, may I remind you, that is part of a formal request for Magnus’s help.” 

Meliorn shrugged, paying no attention to how Alec was trying to loom over him. “You heard correctly.” 

Alec was about to say something else when he felt a familiar hand on his back. He deflated almost immediately, releasing his breath loudly. 

“I think what Alec means” Magnus interrupted carefully, “is that it seems a little lofty to ask for something this binding, without any further information as to what we’re agreeing to.” 

Meliorn nodded, but otherwise remained perfectly rigid. _Is he a freakin’ statue?_ Alec thought childishly. He pulled in another slow breath. He shouldn’t be this angry, it was just that- well, from the minute Meliorn had entered the loft and seen Alec there, he’d been a huge dick about it. Alec knew logically that that was fair; after all, the Seelies did request to see Magnus alone. 

Not to mention the fact that Alec had actually taken the Seelie to be tortured, once. 

So yes, he knew it was kind of fair. But he’d never liked Meliorn, either, and none of this was helping his nerves right now. Something was wrong with Jace and he had no clue what was going on and Alec hated being out of the loop.

Besides, he knew how binding oaths of secrecy were to those who took them. It was certainly a lot to ask. 

“If you insist on _his_ presence,” Meliorn reiterated flatly, indicating Alec with a tilt of his head, “then you will both undergo the oath.” 

“And if I hear this alone?” Magnus asked, increasing the pressure of his hand on Alec’s lower back to prevent him from protesting just yet.

Meliorn tilted his head in consideration. “I am quite certain that the Seelie Queen will insist upon it anyway. She had not intended to, but now that the Shadowhunter knows what he isn’t privy to, we can’t trust that you won’t fill him in after we tell you, Magnus.” 

“I want to know” Alec said firmly. He wouldn’t let Magnus do whatever this was alone. They needed each other- Alec needed Magnus, at least- more than ever right now. And he had a sneaking suspicion that whatever the Seelies wanted had to do with whatever was wrong with Jace, so he should hear it. 

Magnus looked at him searchingly for a moment, then nodded. “Alec should stay.” 

“And him?” Meliorn asked, indicating where Jace was asleep on the couch. Well, Alec was quite sure that Jace was faking sleep, actually, but Meliorn didn’t need to know that right now. 

“Is it fair to assume that the Seelies would rather Jace not be involved in this?” Magnus asked. 

Meliorn nodded. “I would insist upon it.” 

Magnus considered for a moment, and Alec could tell that the wheels were turning in his mind. 

Alec took a depth breath of his own as he waited. Before Meliorn had shown up, Magnus had been about to tell Alec and Jace what he’d potentially figured out. But once he’d realized that the Seelie Knight was coming, Magnus had decided that it would be better to hear from him first, before he started speculating, in case the two problems were related. 

Alec had tried to insist that Magnus tell them before Meliorn arrived, but Magnus had held his ground. He promised Alec that he would explain everything as soon as Meliorn was gone. Alec had been reluctant, but ultimately he trusted Magnus’s judgement, so he had deferred. 

Now, he was still holding on to his trust for Magnus. This was what his boyfriend was good at, Alec knew. Negotiations, problem solving… they could do this. 

“That might be a problem” Magnus said slowly. “If I have guessed correctly what you are here for, then I think the Herondale boy might be an integral part of the whole matter.” 

“Herondale?” Meliorn raised his eyebrows in question. 

Magnus snapped his fingers, promptly pulling both the covers and pillows away from Jace and across the room. Jace sat up, sputtering. “What’s going on?” 

“I was hoping you could tell this man about your parents, Jace. Could you do that?” 

Jace bit his lip uncertainly, looking between Magnus and Meliorn and back. Then his gaze landed on Alec, and he smiled. Instinctively, Alec went over to him, sitting on the couch beside him and taking his hand. 

Alec nodded at him. “Go ahead, Jace.” 

Clearly Magnus was trying to prove some kind of point, even if Alec hadn’t worked it out just yet. 

“Uhm, my parents are Celine and Stephen Herondale” Jace said, hesitantly. “They raised me together from birth in a mundane home until I was ten, and then we lived in the Institute, with Izzy and Alec.” He smiled again at Alec, and Alec squeezed his hand reassuringly. 

“They were loving parents who raised me as a Shadowhunter, while giving me the opportunities of a mundane life, and I respect them greatly. I- uhm- what else do you want to know?” 

Magnus shook his head. “That’s quite enough, thank you.” He looked pointedly toward Meliorn. “Do we understand each other?” he asked. 

Alec felt a flash of pride at Magnus’s skill. It was subtle, he was sure, if Alec hadn’t even picked up on the point that Magnus was trying to make. This meant that if the two problems weren’t related, they weren’t giving too much away on their end. 

Meliorn nodded slowly. “You will all take the oath, then.” 

Magnus’s lip quirked up at his victory. “And we will take it after you’ve given us the information” he added firmly, leaving no room for argument. 

Meliorn’s expression hardened. “Absolutely not. You will take the oath first.” 

Magnus shook his head, glancing at Jace and then back at Meliorn. “I think it will be worth all of our time to hear the information first, Meliorn.” When the Seelie didn’t react, Magnus’s voice sharpened. “This is non-negotiable. You need my help, correct? We will do it my way.” 

Alec felt another flash of pride (but _definitely_ not lust, _that_ would be unprofessional) watching his boyfriend command the room. He didn’t often get to see this side of Magnus, tersely cordial as he usually was around Shadowhunters, and he took great pleasure in knowing just how powerful and persuasive Magnus could be. 

He felt himself blush slightly, even though no one could possibly know what he was thinking. Feeling guilty, he instinctively leaned into Jace, only to yelp as Magnus’s magic rutted against his other side possessively. 

So apparently Magnus had noticed Alec admiring him, and apparently it had also brought out his jealous streak. Interesting… 

Before he had time to linger any further on this new development, however, Meliorn spoke again. “How can I be certain that you will even take the oath once you have heard? I do not have your powers, Warlock. I cannot take knowledge away once it is given.”

Magnus locked eyes with him, considering. “You have my word, Meliorn.” 

Meliorn stared back at him, and the silence stretched on for a minute before he nodded. “Very well. Don’t make me regret this, Magnus Bane.”

They were finally going to get some answers. Alec just hoped that they weren’t answers to someone else’s questions. 

\---

 

By the time Meliorn had finished speaking, Alec was pacing, and Magnus was grim. 

“So I was right” Magnus said, shooting a look in Meliorn’s direction, who was sitting on Magnus’s other couch with an air of unconcern. “It seems that our dear Jace here is not actually from our dimension.” 

Apparently the Seelies had been experiencing a dimension problem lately, but it wasn’t exactly just a problem. It was _huge._

Ever since Clary and Jace had gone into another dimension, there’d been little problems here and there with the boundary between worlds. Random dimensional doors would open for a split second before blinking out again, some of the Seelies had strange memories that seemed to belong to another version of themselves… 

But it had been relatively stable, and harmless, until recently.

Alec tensed. “You mean like, when Clary and Jace went to a different dimension? You think he could be from there?” 

Magnus shook his head, considering. “Could be. But I don’t remember Biscuit mentioning that you and Jace had any sort of romance in that dimension. It seems more likely that he’s from, well, another one somewhere.” 

Alec bit his lip. “But what about _our_ Jace? Where would he be?” 

_Our_ Jace. Something warm fluttered in Magnus’s stomach.

He snapped a drink into his hand, and then one into Alec’s, which Alec took gratefully. Jace had repositioned himself on Alec’s chest, listening quietly. Magnus spared a moment to wonder how Jace could be so unconcerned about the whole affair, but he realized it was probably _because_ of Alec. Their love and trust for each other was obviously still strong wherever Jace had come from. 

That, or he was in shock or something. 

“Well typically I would say that our Jace is just buried under the consciousness of this one. But do you remember how Clary and Jace had to be careful, in case they slipped into the mind of their other selves? It’s a terribly easy thing to do, and can be permanent. But it doesn’t seem like our Jace has come back to himself at all. So either this Jace is extremely resolute in his mental focus, or our Jace is… somewhere else.” 

Magnus pretended that the implication of _dead or gone_ wasn’t hanging between them as he finished speaking. He refused to believe that Jace was actually gone. 

Alec seemed to be thinking the same thing, though. “But I can still feel our parabatai- oh. I knew that our bond felt off. Jace, you’re a Shadowhunter too? We’re parabatai where you come from?” 

Jace nodded.

“So does that mean that I’m not feeling our Jace? That the bond I’m feeling now is with this one?” Alec looked increasingly horrified as things clicked into place. “What if- what if I couldn’t even feel if our Jace was _dead,_ because this bond overshadows it?” 

Magnus stilled, trying to react carefully. He was tempted- so tempted- to reach out and take Alec into his arms to comfort him. But firstly, there was the little problem of the foreign Shadowhunter currently occupying his boyfriend’s chest, and secondly, he knew that an answer in this case was more important than comfort. 

“I very much doubt it” Magnus said finally. “It’s possible, but from everything that I know about your kind of bond… you likely wouldn’t be able to tell how your Jace is feeling, or if he’s hurt, but I can’t imagine that his death would be cloaked over. The bond is very precious and unique to the two specific souls who engage in it; your soul and this Jace’s soul are recognizing each other, which is why the bond still feels active, but it’s not the same.” 

Alec huffed out a breath, looking only slightly relieved. “So you think I’d know if he was- if something happened to him?” 

Magnus nodded. “Yes.” 

Then he sent a prayer to whoever may be listening that the universe didn’t turn him into a liar over this. 

\--- 

 

The oath was highly binding, but it was a quick process. All they needed to do was put some of each of their blood into a glass decanter, and then Magnus would do some incantations and spell work as they all swore their secrecy to Meliorn. 

Well, it _would_ have been quick, except for the fact that Jace was freaking out. 

“Jason, you need to calm down” Magnus chastised him, as Jace yelped for the third time since Magnus began explaining the spell. 

Jace was shaking his head furiously. “Alec, can I talk to you for a second- over _here?_ ” He tightened his already vice-like grip on Alec’s hand and started dragging him toward the corner of Magnus’s loft. Alec shot the two remaining men an apologetic look at he was tugged away. 

“What?” Alec asked harshly, once they were out of earshot. Well, once they were out of earshot for a normal human; it seemed that this Jace didn’t know much about Downworlder hearing, but Alec wasn’t going to correct him. 

Jace shook his head again emphatically. “Alec, what’s going on? No one’s stopped to explain anything to me- I mean, can we even trust these Downworlders? I just-“ 

Alec cut him off by raising a hand, palm forward. “We can trust Magnus.” 

Jace looked at Alec as if he was seeing him for the first time. Which, Alec now knew, he was. “I’m so confused” Jace admitted softly, and it sounded like a plea.

Alec suddenly felt something heavy drop into his stomach. What was he doing? He’d been so caught up in the fact that his Jace was missing that he forgot that someone else’s Jace was still right here. 

Right here, and terrified, and confused, and probably lonely. Something twisted around Alec’s heart. 

“Jace I’m sorry” he choked out, weakly, before pulling his sort-of-parabatai into a hug. “I promise we’ll take things a little slower, okay?’ he murmered into Jace’s ear. “It’s all going to be okay.” 

Jace looked up at him with wide, vulnerable eyes. “I just don’t understand” he protested weakly. 

Alec nodded. “I know.” Running on a sudden instinct, he reached for Jace’s face, cupping it in both of his hands. He swiped hip thumb back and forth in a little motion across one of Jace’s cheekbones. “I’ll take care of you” he promised. 

Jace was staring up at him, looking completely broken and more scared than Alec had seen him since they were children, and Alec conveniently forgot to remember that he didn’t actually know _this_ Jace as a child. That _this_ Jace wasn’t the one that had spent every single day since the moment he’d arrived at the Institute acting cocky and untouchable to everyone they knew, except for Alec, never Alec. 

Because this Jace was looking at Alec now, with so much _need_ and so much trust, and Alec couldn’t explain what drew him forward but something did, and before he knew it their lips were meeting. 

The kiss was short- so short- barely enough time for their lips to do anything but skim past each other. Then Alec pulled away. “I’ll take care of you” he promised again, because he meant it. “Just trust me a little longer.” 

Jace nodded and Alec could see the spark coming back to his parabatai’s eyes. They shared a moment of comforting eye contact, and then went back to join the others, hand in hand. 

Except when they got back, Alec saw Magnus’s face and flushed bright red. Magnus wasn’t actually looking at him. In fact, he was looking anywhere other than Alec or Jace. 

Now it was Alec’s turn to freak out a little. What must that have looked like, to Magnus? Alec hadn’t thought of the kiss as anything more than a tool of comfort, like a hug or a hand squeeze, a way to take that look of terror off of Jace’s face. But surely that’s not how it looked to Magnus. 

Alec hoped that for now, Magnus would know him and trust him enough for them to get through this until they could properly talk. Alec hadn’t had any sort of feelings for Jace in over two years now; the kiss wasn’t something that he wanted, necessarily- although it wasn't uncomfortable- it was just something that he felt compelled to do. Almost like the bond itself had been calling for it. In fact, it probably felt much the same way that kissing Izzy would. 

Alec was pretty sure that Magnus would know that… but on the other hand, the kiss had surely meant more than that to Jace. 

Oh god, he was an idiot, wasn’t he? 

Meliorn was smirking- actually fucking smirking- at him, and Alec fought off the urge to deck the douche right there. They couldn’t afford any more distractions. He would talk to Magnus after. 

“Are we ready?” Meliorn asked, in a voice that made it clear he was asking something more along the lines of _are you done committing infidelity?_

Alec nodded. “Yes. Let’s just- let’s skip the explanation. I already know what’s going to happen, and so does Meliorn, and Jace will just have to watch and imitate us. Let’s just get it over with.” 

Magnus nodded, but still hadn’t looked at Alec yet. He snapped his fingers and a small knife appeared in everyone’s hands. Jace yelped and almost dropped his, but his Shadowhunter training kept it in his hand on muscle memory alone. 

Jace watched as everyone cut a line into their palms, and he did the same without hesitation. This Jace may be lost and a little scared right now, but he was still Jace, and he was no coward. 

They all squeezed a few drops of their blood into the crystal container. Then they waited as Magnus chanted a few lines in some ancient language, swirling his magic around all of them to form a tight blue circle behind their backs. Jace watched the magic curiously, as one might watch a strange animal. 

They went around the circle, swearing their secrecy to Meliorn. Then Meliorn answered with a few words and the ritual was complete. The magic immediately winked out, leaving them all in a gentle wake of silence. 

After a pause that was a little too long not to be awkward, Magnus went straight to business. “Let’s have a seat, shall we? I believe we have some terms of business to go over, Meliorn. And it had better be worth my time.”


	5. Where Do We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a visit to our World Inverted boys. Set 4 months before the previous chapters occurred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are! We're finally meeting one of our other dimension's Malecs. This is set in the World Inverted universe in season 1. Time to see what they got up to after that party. 
> 
> Next chapter we'll come back to our regular dimension (briefly) and have some ensuing shenanigans before we get the chance to meet at least part of Malec number 3. Has the story stopped making sense yet?

Magnus was startled out of his focus by a loud crash, followed by a ridiculously high-pitched shrieking noise. 

“Church!” he shouted, frowning as his magic fizzled out. “You evil cat, you’ve broken my concentration.” 

He stared at his hands and snapped his fingers again. _Come on, come on…_

The blue smoke trailed out of his fingers weakly, before winking out again. “Church!” 

He sighed, turning around to find whatever his menace of a fluff-ball had broken this time. 

“Ughhh that’s my favourite vase!” he complained, throwing his hands up. “This is why I like the Chairman better.” 

As if on cue, his (decidedly much friendlier) cat popped up out of nowhere to rub against his legs. Magnus bent, scooping him up, and held him to his chest to feel the warm vibrations as he purred.

It was a comforting sort of familiarity, standing here in his loft with his cat in his arms and a broken vase at his feet. And yet… 

“What do you think Chairman?” he asked the cat on a whim. “Should I keep trying to get my magic back?” 

Chairman looked at him and blinked. _Well that’s supremely unhelpful._ “I know I know, you don’t have a qualified opinion, but what do you want from me here? I’m lost.” 

When Chairman didn’t answer, Magnus decided to keep talking anyways. At least the cat made a good listener. He continued to snap his unoccupied fingers as he talked, looking determinedly for any sign of blue. “It was that Clary girl who started all of this… do you remember?”

He finally got a little wisp and he jumped, fist-pumping. But then it fizzled out. “Damnit” he murmured. He stumbled and cursed again as he almost tripped over Church, who howled and bolted into the bedroom. 

Chairman tilted his head impatiently. “Oh- uhm, yes. Clary" Magnus said. "You know, the redhead who made fun of my magic technique?” He grinned triumphantly as his magic flickered in again, carefully angling it toward a potion he’d prepared earlier and setting the pot bubbling and smoking. 

Chairman purred in encouragement, and Magnus smiled. “Yes, I quite liked her too. But I used my magic to help her, for the first time in decades, and now I don’t know what to do.” Magnus looked at the broken vase on his floor again, deciding to leave it for now. “I want it back, Chairman. But it’s been so dormant for so long.” 

_Just like me,_ he thought, but he didn’t say it. No need to give either of his cats any more ammunition to mock him with. 

It was true. Magnus had been dormant for far too long; hiding in his safe career, making easy decisions, and avoiding new people in favour of his cats. Not that there’d really been many new people that he’d been interested in or eager to meet, lately. 

The cat meowed, a noise that was more accusation than agreement. _Liar,_ Chairman’s expression said. 

Magnus sighed, not even bothering to wonder how Chairman was reading his mind. Okay, there had been that one Alec boy… 

But no. He and Alec had made some awkward small talk at a party that Magnus hadn’t even been invited to. That was all. 

_Liar,_ his cat meowed again. Magnus groaned. It had been a little bit more than just awkward small talk, but honestly, not much more.

Alec had caught him on the way out of the party. Magnus had just finished closing up the portal and ridding the room of that disgusting demon’s body, and was weaving his way toward the exit, hoping to make a quick and unnoticed escape. Invisibility was Magnus’s specialty, but of course, the one time he wanted it, he hadn’t gotten it. 

Alexander. 

Alec had grabbed his arm, making some flirtatious comment about Magnus not leaving until they’d been properly acquainted. Magnus had been feeling a little high off of finally connecting with his magic, so in a very uncharacteristic move, he’d acquiesced. They’d talked for a few minutes over drinks and Magnus had managed to use his euphoria and adrenaline to make what he’d thought was a decent impression. 

He’d even made Alec laugh a couple of times. But Alec had been pulled away for some sort of party emergency, and that was that. They hadn’t exchanged numbers, and while Magnus had hoped that Alec might find a way to get in contact through mutual friends, he hadn’t. It had been almost two weeks and Magnus had officially given up. 

Besides, why would Alec contact him? Alec was almost comically out of Magnus’s league. 

Magnus flicked his hand out again, turning the leaves on one of his tall houseplants bright pink. He cleared this throat. “Yes, as I was saying, my magic has been dormant for a long time. Not to mention,” he added, “that being an active Warlock in this day and age could be dangerous.” It was true, but also a feeble attempt to change the subject. Chairman gave him a dubious look. 

Magnus snapped his fingers to magic some books into the air so that they were floating around the room in lazy circles. “What? It _is_ dangerous” he told the cat. “Don’t give me that.”

He let his magic trail out lazily, no longer even keeping track of what random effects he may be having on his living room. It felt good to let it be free. 

It felt as if Magnus was truly coming into himself again. 

He frowned. “Maybe you’re right, Chairman. Maybe it is time for me to take some risks.” 

His phone picked that moment to ring, the chorus of some old pop song that Magnus had once fancied. Magnus sighed heavily. After some shifting and a disgruntled whine from Chairman, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. 

“Magnus Bane, tarot cards and fortune telling. Ready to change your life?” he deadpanned.

The person on the other end of the line laughed. “Oh man, if that’s how you greet your clients it’s no wonder that you needed that awful infomercial to drum up business.” 

Magnus scowled. Okay, rude. His infomercial _had_ been awful, but nobody needed to point that out, thank you very much. He was already going to kill Ragnor and Catarina for talking him into it, which he was now quite sure had been a prank. 

“Can I help you?” he asked.

The voice laughed again, and Magnus felt a funny feeling creeping into his periphery. He recognized that laugh from somewhere… 

“Oh, I sure hope so” the voice purred, and Magnus dropped the phone. 

_Shit shit shit shit shit_ he scrambled to pick the phone back up without tipping Chairman out of his arms. _Shit shit shit shit_ “Alexander?” 

“Yeah, uh, hi.” Alec voice was somehow both silky and husky, and he made even the word _hi_ sound like an invitation for something. Magnus gulped. 

“Hi. Can I- uhm, can I actually help you?” 

He could practically hear Alec’s grin through the phone. “I do have a proposition for you. It was fun getting to know you at the party, and I was hoping to take you out. You seem… sympathetic.” 

Magnus crinkled his eyebrows. Sympathetic? What did that mean? Was Alec trying to imply that Magnus was nice? Did that mean that he really did want something? But wait- “You wanna take me out? Like, out, out?” 

Alec chuckled. “Yes out-out. On a date, just to be clear.”

But… “Me? Magnus Bane?” 

Alec made a little humming noise. “Yes. Why, is there a problem?” 

Magnus was pretty sure there were a lot of problems, not the first of which was that he didn’t even know how to talk on the phone to this boy _and how could I possibly have a real date with him?_

But somehow his mouth betrayed him. “No!” He felt himself blush and was immediately hit with the urge to hide his face, even though Alec couldn’t see him. Still, he shot a spark of magic toward his potted cactus, making it levitate slightly, just to release some energy. “No, er, rather- yes. I’d like that. To go out. With you.” He slapped a hand over his mouth, pulling the phone away from his face while he groaned at his own stuttering. 

He was a centuries old Warlock, dammnit. He would not be humiliated by a mundane man. 

Alec made another purring noise, murmuring something about the sound of Magnus’s moaning (apparently he hadn’t pulled the phone far enough away; now Magnus’s lower half was already unfairly twitching), and then he laughed. “Great” Alec said. 

“Wh-when?” Magnus asked, ignoring his half-hard dick and the condescending look that Church- who had apparently reappeared to witness Magnus’s humiliation-was giving him. He ducked the cactus as it floated by, and shot another spark of magic out. It didn’t go quite as planned, however, and ended up lighting the corner of his table cloth on fire. “I’m sure I could find a time this week.”

“How about now?” 

For one horrible second, Magnus's stomach dropped. His mind whirred, trying to come up with any excuse that wasn’t as pathetic as the _I’m not ready I’m not ready_ that he was internally chanting. But then Alec laughed again. 

Relieved, Magnus sighed. But he could practically hear the shit-eating grin in Alec’s voice as he spoke again, right as there was a loud knock on Magnus’s door. “Actually,” Alec started, with the tone of someone shamelessly pretending to be sheepish, “You don’t have time to think of an excuse. I’m already here.”

Magnus looked back at the door, then at the phone in his hand. Then he looked at his dreadful grey sweatpants, still inexplicably half-hard penis, the floating cactus and burnt table cloth and bubbling cauldron, and Church’s smug-ass expression. 

_Shit._

\--- 

 

By the time Magnus finally opened the door, Alec was grinning. He swept his arms out, ready to greet the beautiful man that had been on his mind for weeks, and then-

Huh. 

Alec didn’t know where to look first. 

The door opened to a more-than-slightly-flustered looking Magnus, with a small bright orange throw pillow held over his- ahem- private area. There was a smug looking cat on his shoulder, literally tearing his stained beige t-shirt into shreds, and another smaller cat twisting around his ankles. 

He was just as beautiful as Alec remembered. He was also panting heavily, bright red as he fumbled to hold onto the door handle as if it were a lifeline.

“Alec. How, uh, how lovely to see you” Magnus said, looking like it was anything but lovely to see him. 

Alec, for his part, had never been more enamored in his life. 

“Is something burning?”


	6. One Step Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace fills them in on world number 2, Malec talks, and Izzy overhears something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm sorry this took longer than usual to get up, I was really sick this past week! *Throws long chapter at you to make up for it*
> 
> This chapter, of course, is back to the regular canon-verse. 
> 
> As usual, feel free to leave comments or hit me up at wewalkadifferentpath.tumblr.com

“So what does this mean?” Jace asked, looking between Alec and Magnus. 

Meliorn had just left through a portal Magnus had (graciously) opened for him, heading to the Seelie realm as part of his agreement with Magnus. The two had been hammering out business agreements and strategies for close to two hours before Magnus had finally shooed the Seelie out of his loft. 

Alec was glad for the peace. Meliorn- for all of his diplomatic successes- was a huge dick. 

Magnus fiddled with his ear cuff. “It means” he began, pacing fluidly across his living room, “that something fundamental is happening to the boundary between our dimension and a potentially infinite number of other dimensions. Something- or someone- is eroding it, and quite quickly. It means that none of us are safe.” 

Alec swallowed. This kept getting more and more unfortunate. “What can we do about it?” 

He knew that his unspoken question- what can we do about Jace- would be understood without him having to say it. Alec truly did care about the larger problem, both in terms of duty and because it threatened all of their safety, but Jace… well, Jace was Jace. And Alec needed him home. 

Meliorn had notified them that the Seelies had sensed a dimensional door opening recently somewhere near the Institute, which could potentially be where this Jace had come from. They didn’t know the exact location of the door, but Meliorn had said it was still open, so Magnus should be able to find it with his magic. 

It was the only real lead they had so far and Alec was planning to cling to it fiercely. 

When Magnus didn’t answer right away, Alec continued. “Meliorn said that the Seelies would try to keep as much balance between the worlds as possible, in order to try to prevent things getting worse, right?” Alec hadn’t been listening in during their negotiations, exactly, but he’d heard enough. “But they’re essentially counting on you to fix this.” 

Jace cleared his throat. “Is that- could you fix it, Warlock Bane?” 

“I’m not sure” Magnus replied tersely. He played with his magic, flicking it idly between his fingers. “Some degree of dimensional magic is certainly within my range of abilities, but I can’t be certain until we know the cause.” 

“So should we go to the source? Like Meliorn told us?” Alec asked. Jace was apparently the only being to have actually ended up in the wrong dimension so far, as far as anyone knew. So going to his dimension seemed like as good a place to start as any. 

Besides, they did have to take him back, eventually. Alec wasn’t sure he could deal this Jace for too much longer, if only because he was starting to make things incredibly awkward. 

“We?” Magnus raised an eyebrow. 

Alec smiled a little, having anticipated this. “Yes, Magnus, _we._ Even if I was otherwise willing to let you plunge into unknown danger alone, it’s still beneficial for me to come. You can get into the mind of that dimension’s Magnus-” Alec didn’t bother to add _if there is one,_ because that would be a dead end that he didn’t want to think about unless he had to, “but I could actually talk to him. Besides, you need an anchor, right? So you don’t lose yourself.” 

Magnus nodded, biting his lip. “So it’s not just about coming for Jace?” he asked. “Because-“

“No” Alec said firmly. “I mean yes, I want to be there because I don’t think that I could rest not knowing where Jace was. But I trust your abilities- I know that you could find Jace without me- I just think it’s better if you don’t need to do it alone.” 

Magnus nodded again, more decisively. “Okay. Good.” 

“Does this mean I’m going home?” Jace asked hopefully. 

Magnus turned to Jace with an exasperated sigh, but Alec could see the fondness in the way his eyes crinkled at him. “Yes Chase, it does. But-“ he mused, walking a little half-circle around where Jace was standing, “I don’t know what to do about your memories.”

“My memories?”

“It makes things easier if we don’t have to take them right now,” Magnus continued, as if he hadn’t heard Jace, “because we need you to cooperate. I will take them before Alec and I leave your dimension, but in the meantime,” he turned to Jace, “ it is _imperative_ that you keep this whole escapade a secret.”

Jace gaped at him. 

“Who knows” Magnus shrugged lightly, “your memories will probably disappear anyways at some point, once you’ve adapted back to your world, but there’s no precedent for this, so.”

Now Jace just looked confused. “I thought that the blood oath-“ 

“Yes” Alec interrupted. “It means that you can’t tell anyone about the dimension problem, but it doesn’t mean you couldn’t tell anyone, say, that Magnus and I are dating in another universe. They might dismiss it as fantasy, but it’s still dangerous, and we can’t take that risk.” 

Jace considered. “I can’t tell them anything about this? Not even- not even my Alec?”

“No.”

“We don’t want to interrupt the natural progression of things in your world any more than we might already have to in order to solve this” Magnus added, by way of explanation. 

Jace nodded after a moment. “I ‘m actually relieved that I’ll forget, to be honest” he admitted wearily. “This is sort of intense.” 

Magnus chuckled. “That’s the first correct thing you’ve said all day Chase.” 

\---

 

Izzy took a deep, shallow breath in, willing her body to complete silence and stillness. 

She crouched, peering around the corner slowly. The corridor was clear, but she knew that it wouldn’t be for long. She just needed to be a little patient, and-

_There._

“Hold…” she murmured to herself, as if giving orders to an army to wait before firing. “Hold…”

“Izzy?” 

Isabelle jumped, twirling on instinct, only just stopping herself and pulling her arm back before the blade would’ve sunk into the intruder behind her. “Raj?” 

Raj smiled, as much as one can when there’s a seraph blade at their throat. “Yeah, relax, it’s just me. What are you doing here?” 

Isabelle sighed, allowing herself a small moment to relax before tensing again. She pulled the blade back from his throat. “Why would you sneak up on me?” she bit out. “I could have killed you. I almost did.”

Raj put his hands up in a gesture of innocence, but the smirk on his face was infuriating. “I wouldn’t have let you, don’t worry.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever tiger.” She knew that that was complete horseshit; she’d trained with Raj enough times to know that if she hadn’t pulled back, he’d be on the ground right now. She sheathed her blade. “Just don’t do it again.” 

Raj’s smirk widened. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.” 

Izzy stiffened. She wasn’t about to tell him the real reason: that she had been looking for him. The man who she’d been watching around the corner- clearly not Raj, it turned out- had walked by a minute ago, and in her defense, he had looked a lot like Raj. She shrugged. “None of your business” she told him. “But now that you’re here, I need to talk to you.” 

Raj raised an eyebrow. God, how did he make every gesture look so smarmy? “Then talk.” 

Izzy didn’t have to look around to know that where they were standing wasn’t exactly private. “Not here. Follow me.” 

\--- 

 

“So, Jace, tell us about where you’re from.” 

Jace rubbed the back of his neck in a way that had become something of Alec’s trademark; oddly, Alec couldn’t remember ever having seen the nervous tick from his parabatai, and wondered what differences in life experiences caused the two versions of Jace to have such subtly different behaviours. 

“Uhm, what do you want to know?” Jace asked, somewhat sheepishly. 

“Well, for starters” Magnus said, “are there any obvious dangers that we’ll run into there that we should be prepared for?” 

Jace bit his lip. “Uhm, not for Alec and I. You, maybe.” 

Magnus raised an eyebrow as Alec stiffened. If there was going to be danger for Magnus, maybe they should rethink him coming at all. The Seelies wouldn’t be happy about Magnus going back on their agreement, but even that wasn’t worth Magnus’s safety. 

“What kind of dangers, exactly?” Magnus asked coolly. 

Jace rubbed his neck again. “Well, maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like people here are fairly accepting of Downworlders?” 

Alec snorted and Magnus’s lip twitched up in a half-smirk. “Not exactly” Alec said. 

“But I suppose most Shadowhunters aren’t inclined to murder us and steal our Downworlder marks, anymore, if that’s what you’re getting at” Magnus added. 

Jace looked up, matching Magnus’s gaze for the first time since meeting the Warlock. “I think history may be a little further behind in my dimension” he said warily. 

Magnus let out a long-suffering sigh. “Of course it is. And me? You said we’ve met before.” 

Jace licked at his bottom lip nervously. “Yeah. A couple of times. You’re kind of… an exception? There’s no way anyone would admit this, but I think you were just too powerful for the Shadowhunters to hunt, so they decided to use you. That’s happened with a few of the Downworlders- most just live in their own towns, and the Shadowhunters leave them alone as long as they keep to themselves. But we-the Clave- uses you, for your abilities.” 

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Okay, well that’s nothing new. Anything else, then?” 

Jace shrugged. “You’re not very nice, really. Not that I can blame you.” 

Alec laughed, and Magnus rolled his eyes. “Any other _dangers?_ ” he asked pointedly.

Jace’s lips curved up in a soft smile, one of his first since he got here, and then he sighed. “Downworlders don’t really… get along, in my world. So be careful who you talk to. Otherwise, I think we should be okay.” 

“Okay. Now, what about-“

Alec tuned the two men out as he drifted into his thoughts, rubbing his thumb absently across the pad of his other palm. Could this possibly work? Magnus still seemed unperturbed after hearing the other world described, but Alec wasn’t so sure. It sounded like Magnus wasn’t in direct danger necessarily, but even a little was too much in Alec’s opinion, no matter how capable Magnus was. 

And what about the time difference? Would they be out of the Institute the whole time they were in the other dimension, or would they portal back to the same time they left at? How would he explain to his siblings-

Shit. His siblings. 

Izzy. 

He couldn’t possibly leave without telling her. If something happened, she could lose him, Jace, and Magnus in one failed mission. 

But he couldn’t tell her. That damn oath! Alec felt rage building up inside him, desperately trying to be louder than the panic he felt at the possibility of losing or hurting his siblings. This was Meliorn’s fault! Or-or- well it had to be someone’s fault, didn’t it? 

Alec jerked as a hand was placed on his shoulder. “Wha-?”

“Shit, sorry” Magnus murmured. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you okay, love?” Magnus’s voice was gentle, and his eyes were soft and warm, and Alec felt himself starting to relax. “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry. I just- what do I do about Izzy?” 

Jace quirked his head over to look, reacting to his sister’s name. “We can’t tell her” he realized. 

Magnus smiled weakly. “No, we can’t. But you can tell her you’ll be out on a mission with Jace and I, and give her as much detail as you can. There’s also...” Magnus cut himself off, looking at Alec with wide eyes. He took a deep breath. “There’s also the option of leaving Isabelle with a message in case things go wrong. Blood oaths are only valid as long for as long as those who made them are alive.” 

Alec closed his eyes to steady himself. This was suddenly starting to seem a lot bigger than he anticipated. It was not what he’d planned when he woke up this morning, that’s for sure. He already had enough responsibilities at the Institute, and he and Magnus were supposed to have a date, and… well, he was a Shadowhunter wasn’t he? Life never turned out the way he expected. 

But at least he had Magnus. 

“Okay” Alec said finally. “Okay.”

\--- 

An hour or so later, the men had all eaten and planned out the last of their travel details. Alec had called Izzy to let her know he’d be gone for a while with Jace and Magnus, and although she was worried, she’d conceded. It was fairly normal for them to go off on random missions, after all. Why would she suspect anything else? 

With shaking fingers, Alec had also written a note for Izzy, in case things didn’t go as planned. It wasn’t like Shadowhunters didn’t expect death at any moment either, but this was different. Theoretically, they could all find themselves trapped or killed in a random dimension somewhere, disappeared without a trace for anyone back home. Except this note. He sighed, then ended the note before letting Magnus enchant it so it would get to Izzy if anything should happen to them.

_\- I love you. Please be happy. Your older brother, Alec._

Magnus made a portal for them all into a less crowded area of the Institute so they could look for the door to Jace’s dimension without wandering past too many curious bystanders. As soon as their feet touched the ground, however, Magnus stiffened. 

“It’s under us” he said. 

Alec frowned. “The portal door? What do you mean under us?”

“It’s in the basement. I don’t know why nobody has noticed it yet; the wards should have recognized magic like this.” 

Jace nodded slowly. “Yeah, a basement, I remember now. I woke up in a basement. I-“ he squinted. “I don’t remember where, though.” 

Magnus snapped his fingers and a strand of blue magic materialized before them. Magnus watched it for a second before snapping again, and the strand drifted slowly but surely toward their left. “Guess it’s this way” Magnus shrugged. 

“But how are we supposed to get there without anyone seeing us? It’s not like we can explain what we’re doing” Alec said, feeling the prickles of anxiety in his chest again. He knew they had to do this, but God, he was not looking forward to it. 

Magnus smirked. “Oh darling, you underestimate me.” He snapped again, instantly glamouring all three of them as well as the magical strand of light. “This will protect us. It’s not a full-proof glamour, but unless someone decides to stare at us directly and concentrate on seeing us, then we’ll be as good as invisible.” 

Alec nodded. Feeling his chest tighten, he reached out instinctively for Magnus’s hand, forgetting about the kiss with Jace earlier in his haste to be closer to his boyfriend. To his surprise, Magnus took his hand back, squeezing it gently. Then they followed the light.  
\---

 

“What the _hell_ " Izzy seethed, as soon as she’d dragged Raj to a more private area of the Institute.

A much more private area, in fact. She wasn’t risking anyone overhearing this. While the basement was gross- and smelled, to be honest- it was the safest place for this conversation. 

Raj glared at where her hand was still gripped tightly around the material at his shoulder; she let him go with a huff, and he mimed wiping her off of his shoulder. “What the hell what? You’re the one man-handling me.” 

Izzy pinched her eyebrows at him. “Have you been telling people?” 

Raj made an expression that managed to be incredulous and indignant, while still remaining firmly sarcastic. “About the man-handling? Exactly when would I have had time to tell people between now and point-four seconds ago when you let me out of your iron grip?” 

Izzy clenched her jaw. “No, not about that, _idiota._ ” She waited, tensely, for him to pick up on it, hoping her silence was enough of a hint.

After a minute, it clicked. Raj’s expression softened. “Oh, Iz. No, of course not.” 

Izzy’s could feel her lower lip trembling. She knew she probably looked like a pouting child, and part of her hated herself and Raj for making that happen. “You told Clary that we were friends” she accused. 

Raj’s eyes flashed with hurt, but his voice was still soft. “As if we couldn’t possibly be friends under any other circumstances?” 

Izzy sighed. Shit. “Sorry, Raj” she said, feeling a heavy wave of guilt. “I didn’t mean it like that.” 

Raj stepped forward and put a hesitant hand on Izzy’s shoulder, which she resolutely did not flinch away from. Surprisingly, she was used to such simple gestures from him by now. “I think you did mean it like that” he said softly, and Izzy felt another wave of guilt wash over her. “But that’s okay.” 

“It’s just” she started, wanting to defend her recent actions, “Alec… he’s been through so much recently, you know, and I don’t want- wait, what was that?” 

She felt Raj perk up beside her, body language mirroring her own as they both stood at attention. 

There was a long moment of silence, and Izzy almost started talking again- feeling rather silly for being so paranoid- when she heard another noise. This time she was certain; it was someone speaking. Someone’s whose voice she knew better than the back of her own hand. 

“What’s Alec doing here?” Raj asked quietly. Izzy raised an eyebrow at him, surprised that he would also recognize Alec’s voice so easily, and put a finger to her lips to shush him. 

“How could you not have known it was actually in the Institute?” Alec was asking, somewhere around the corner from them. “How could we all not have known? Shouldn’t it be…”

“More obvious?” A second voice- Magnus?- finished the thought. “You’d think it would be. Like I said, usually the wards pick up on this kind of magic.” 

“Then why didn’t we know?” Alec asked. There was a notable silence, and Izzy wondered if maybe Magnus had just shrugged. 

“Is this it?” a third voice asked, one that Izzy couldn’t quite identify for some reason. It was familiar, almost nagging at a piece of her mind, but she couldn’t-

“Yes” Magnus said. “This is it.” 

The voices stopped for a moment and Izzy made eye contact with Raj. What were they doing down here in the Institute basements? And what were they talking about? Alec had called her earlier, telling her he and Magnus would be out on a mission with Jace… wait, that must be the third voice then. But he sounded different, somehow, when he’d spoken. More frightened than Jace usually was, softer spoken. Maybe Izzy was just imagining it. 

Still, this didn’t seem like a typical mission.

She trusted her brother, but she didn’t like this at all. Before she could stomp out and confront them, though, she felt a tug on her sleeve. 

“Come on” Raj said, insistent. He started tugging her back down the hallway, away from the voices and toward the direction they had come from. “We’re clearly not supposed to be hearing this” he added. 

Izzy glared at him. She didn’t like being out of the loop, but Raj was right. Alec was the most responsible person she knew and if he wasn’t telling her something yet, there was surely a reason for it. Besides, she trusted Magnus to protect her brother 100%. 

It was just her curiosity that would get the better of her. She also made a note to ask Alec about Jace as soon as she saw him again. He would know what was wrong. 

\----

 

“So, are you ready?” 

Jace whirled, clearly jumpy, and Alec put his hands up. “Woah, hey” he reassured. “I didn't mean to sneak up on you.” It was dim in this part of the Institute’s basements; many of the bulbs had blown out over the years and no one had bothered to replace them. Alec made a note to take care of that if-when- he got back. It wasn’t safe if there was ever an emergency. 

Jace sighed, deflating. “It's okay” he said softly. “I'm just a little skittish. I don't really- what will happen when we get back to my world? Assuming this even works.” 

Alec stepped toward his parabatai, drawn in by his anxiousness, but this time kept a respectful distance. Even though Magnus couldn't see them, Alec didn't want any sort of repeat of that kiss. “It will work” Alec tried to sound sure. “Magnus and Meliorn worked it out. This portal is almost certainly the one to your dimension.” 

The portal definitely looked impressive, at the very least. Jace had stepped away from it for a moment to gather his nerves and Alec had followed him, so they couldn’t see it now, but it glowed an eerie and dazzling purple that brightened the area around it. 

Jace nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He stood for a second, eyes down, scuffing his shoe against the cold stones below them. “Can I ask you something?” 

Alec tilted his head. “Sure.” 

Jace bit his lip, then straightened. “We're really not dating here?” 

Alec's eyebrows shot up. 

Shit. He'd though he'd made that clear to Jace, but then again, after everything...

“No” Alec said, leaving no room for uncertainty. 

Jace looked unconvinced. “You never dated, though? Or never- you never wanted to?” 

Alec felt himself blush, but immediately chastised himself. There was no reason to be embarrassed or ashamed, not anymore. Especially since this Jace clearly had reciprocated Alec's teenage feelings, as hard as that was for him to imagine. “There was a point- a few years, actually” Alec admitted, “where I thought that I loved him. You. Whatever.” 

“But it didn't work out?” 

Alec shook his head. “You didn't feel the same.”

Jace's expression softened. “I'm sorry.” 

“No” Alec insisted again, determined for some reason to make this Jace understand. “I'm glad you- he- didn't. I realized later that I never really loved him that way, I just wanted to. I'm happier now with Magnus than I ever thought I could be.” 

Jace crinkled his nose at that, like the idea of Alec dating Magnus was out of the scope of his imagination. “I still find that weird.” 

Alec laughed. “Yeah, well, I find you dating other-me to be weird, too. Jace is my brother. I would feel wrong about dating him, and I think he would too.” Alec didn’t even mention the fact that his Jace had always identified as straight; who knows, Jace could have his secrets. Or maybe he just wasn’t sure yet. Could people have different sexualities across dimensions? 

Jace was about to say something but stopped at the sound of Magnus calling for them. Alec squeezed Jace's elbow before walking toward his boyfriend. 

But not before he caught the contemplative look on Jace's face. _Huh._

\---

Magnus tried to keep the tension from his shoulders as Alec came toward him. He shouldn't be worried, or frustrated, or- well, the word he was looking for, but studiously trying to deny, was jealous. 

He shouldn't be jealous. He'd told Alec he wasn't jealous. He'd told _himself_ he wasn't jealous. 

But alas, his heart never had taken his directions very well had it? 

He'd meant it when he'd said that Alec had nothing to worry about, though. Magnus knew that Alec loved him, and they'd had many a discussion about Alec's old feelings for Jace, which he knew were long gone. Magnus trusted Alec absolutely. 

However, when Magnus had told Alec that he had nothing to be worry about, that was when there had only been one kiss. One that Jace had initiated. Seeing Alec kiss Jace, in Magnus’s own home… 

Well, knowing that Alec was around the corner, talking (definitely just talking, Magnus told himself) to his old crush- who, in some ironic and awful twist of fate, he was actually dating in another universe- it riled Magnus up just a little. Sue him.

But that wasn't Alec's fault, it was Magnus's, and Magnus would deal with it. 

Actually, he was pretty sure it was mostly Camille's fault- she’d drilled into his head the unfortunate jealousy that he was now often prone to- but unfortunately it was still Magnus's problem to deal with. 

It didn’t help that he and Alec had increasingly little time together anymore, and much of that time was taken up by Jace- their world’s Jace- in some way or another. It wasn’t only that Jace prevented intimacy with his physical presence, although that was bad enough. The worst were the many nights that Alec was next to Magnus without being next to him, because his thoughts were caught up with his parabatai. 

Magnus had been seeing less and less of Alec lately, and Jace had been claiming more and more of him. And now, this Jace was here, and somehow this recent context took a collision course with all of Magnus’s insecurities upon first meeting Alec, and this… this feeling of nagging unworthiness and doubt was the result. 

“Magnus.”

Magnus shook himself out of his thoughts as Alec came over; he could see that Alec was obviously thinking about the same thing from the way he was hanging back, staying out of Magnus’s personal space. It occurred to Magnus to wonder why Jace hadn’t followed when he had called them both, but perhaps Alec had asked for a private moment? Or maybe Jace had just known. 

“Yes my love?” Magnus asked. 

Alec’s lip twitched and he shook his head gently. Even after all this time together Alec was still embarrassed by terms of endearment. “We need to talk” Alec said more seriously. “With everything going on we never had a chance but I- you saw, didn’t you? Before, with Jace?” 

Magnus felt something heavy sink into his stomach; he knew this conversation would be coming, but he didn’t want to have it. “Yes. I did.” 

Alec scratched at the back of his neck. “I just wanted to apologize. It was wrong of me to do that, especially in your home, with a guest there… not that I should have done it at all, but- oh hell.” Alec sighed and took a breath. “I just wanted to apologize. And to make sure you know that it wasn’t- that it didn’t mean anything.” 

Alec looked so earnest, and so guilty, that Magnus couldn’t help a sad smile. “I know, love. I’m not going to say it was easy to watch, but I know you’re over Jace.” 

Alec nodded firmly. “Yes, I am, completely. I don’t know what compelled me to do it, really. Jace looked so scared; as ridiculous as it sounds, it sort of felt like our bond itself was telling me that a kiss would make it better… I don’t know. I’m just sorry. I love you, and only you.” 

Magnus took one of Alec’s hands in his and kissed the back of it. “And I you, Alexander. I’m not upset, honestly. Besides, the Wayland boy can’t hold a candle to me” Magnus gave one of his most convincing laughs. 

“Herondale” Alec corrected with a smile. “But no, he can’t. Are you sure, though?”

Magnus forced himself to smile. He wasn’t exactly okay with it, but he knew he would be. “Yes, I’m sure. Now let’s get your fake-parabatai and get this over with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we'll see what happens when our boys go through the portal...
> 
> P.S., I don't think Meliorn is actually a dick (shout out to him in that last episode, hey?) but Alec does, unfortunately.


	7. Golden Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when Alec, Magnus, and other-Jace go through the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So clearly it's been a long time since I've published buutttt... this chapter is almost 7,000 words, which is easily 2 or 3 times longer than my other ones. Soo yeah, forgive me? 
> 
> This whole chapter is set in an original universe that I created, taking place right after they stepped through the portal.

 

When Alec opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was gold.  
  
And the first thing he felt was hollow.  
  
Then, all he saw was black.  
  
  
_He remembers a time- not quite a child anymore, not quite an adult- when life was both overwhelmingly complicated and remarkably simple.  
  
He remembers small bare feet on the cold hardwood. Soft pattering, already feeling too loud as he makes his way to his mother’s office.  
  
He knows he shouldn’t be going there.  
  
He knows he shouldn’t.  
  
But he can’t shake the question at the front of his mind, the one that has been nagging him since earlier that morning.  
  
A soft knock. A pause.  
  
“Enter.” It’s Maryse voice. Alec feels his stomach flip.  
  
He pushes open the door slowly, as if he can allay her disappointment a while longer that way. It’s much brighter in the office. Not that it had been dim in the hallway, either; the Institute is always well-lit, sterile and clinical and blinding, like a microscope in the sun.  
  
But Maryse’s office is lit with a ferocity that mirrors her character, the many lamps putting up a winning fight against the setting sun outside her window.  
  
“Alexander.”  
  
Her tone isn’t particularly angry, but still Alec flinches. “Hi, mom.”  
  
Later he won’t be able to refer to her so casually.  
  
She looks up from her paperwork, makes eye contact. “Is there something you need sweetheart?”  
  
Alec studies her for a moment, already feeling the familiar guilt creep into his bones at how tired she looks, how inconvenienced by her very existence. By _ his _very existence. But she seems friendly tonight, in one of her warmer moods, so Alec lets himself smile.  
  
“I just had a question, if that’s okay?” he asks.  
  
She smiles back. “Sure love, what is it?”  
  
Alec takes a breath, steadies himself. “I saw dad earlier” he starts, a little unsure. How can he explain the thoughts raging around in his head? The emotions? “He was bringing in that werewolf.”  
  
Maryse must read something in his tone, because she raises an eyebrow. “Did that upset you?” she asks.  
  
Alec knows what she’s asking. The sight wasn’t exactly pretty. Three Shadowhunters had been needed to drag the cuffed wolf-quite literally-through to the cells, haggard and limp as he was hanging between them. The wolf had been covered in scars and even some open wounds, but the worst part had been the look of complete and utter vacancy in his eyes.  
  
Alec isn’t old enough to understand that look. Not yet. So it had scared him.  
  
But that isn’t what’s bothering him. “They were taking him for execution” Alec says instead, not a question because he already knows the answer.  
  
He may be a kid, still, but he isn’t _ dumb. _  
  
Maryse nods. “They were.”  
  
Her stare is a challenge, but her lips are quirked up in a gentle smile. Alec decides to try. “What did he do?”  
  
Maryse nods and exhales softly, as if she’d expected the question. She beckons Alec closer, and when he complies, she takes one of his hands gently in both of hers. Alec relishes in the warmth for a minute, soaking in the sound of their gentle breathing in the quiet office.  
  
“Sweetheart” she says, reaching with the hand on top to push his hair off of his forehead. “Sometimes Downworlders do bad things, and I know that can be scary, but that’s why the Shadowhunters are here to stop them and make things better.” She looks into his eyes and smiles again, soft and warm and loving. Motherly.  
  
Alec nods. He knows this. That isn’t what’s been on his mind. “I heard someone say that he was arrested for taking a mundane who’d been bitten back to the den. A mundane child.”  
  
Maryse stiffens, and Alec knows immediately that he’s made a mistake. “A werewolf child” she clarifies.  
  
Alec shakes his head. “She wasn’t a werewolf yet though, was she? They took her back to help her transition.”  
  
Maryse pulls her hand away, and Alec tells himself that Shadowhunters don’t feel cold from loss of touch. “They were supposed to hand her over to the Clave” Maryse says sternly. She straightens in her chair and turns slightly, her posture a subtle dismissal. “They didn’t, so they’ll be punished accordingly.”  
  
Alec lets the words _ hand over _roll around in his mind a moment before asking. “Their punishment has to be death?”  
  
Maryse’s lips press into a thin line and she hisses an exhale through her nose. “Yes, Alexander. That is what the Clave decided.”  
  
Here it is, the moment for Alec to ask the question that has been on his mind all day. He isn’t so sure he wants to, anymore, or that it will be welcome. But with the words _ hand over _still churning his stomach, he knows he has to ask.  
  
“Mother, why do we get to decide that?”  
  
Maryse stiffens further, straightening her spine until even sitting she manages to loom over Alec’s still small frame. “What are you talking about? We didn’t decide anything.”  
  
Alec moves to pull his arms around himself and then remembers, clasping them behind his back in a soldier’s stance, just like his dad does. “Why do we- Shadowhunters- get to decide who lives and who dies? I mean we already hunt demons, which I get-“ he adds in a rush, as she raises her eyebrows, “but that wolf wasn’t hurting anyone, or killing anyone.”  
  
“He broke the law” Maryse says, with a dismissive wave of her hand. She’s already looking at paperwork again, although Alec can tell that she’s not really reading it.  
  
“Exactly” Alec asserts, feeling oddly brave. “He broke a rule. One of our rules, Shadowhunter rules. But who gave us permission to make the rules? To police them, with life or death?”  
  
“What a silly que-“  
  
“Why don’t they get to kill us too?”  
  
The silence that follows is worse than the slap, the crack across his cheek that in retrospect, Alec should have seen coming.  
  
Later he would see it coming.  
  
Even later than that, he’d learn to stop it from happening at all.  
  
Now, he just tries not to cry, because he may be a kid but like he said, he isn’t dumb. Shadowhunters don’t cry.  
  
_ “The Angel _” Maryse enunciates, her voice dangerously neutral. “Raziel gave us permission, Alexander, when he gave us our angel blood.” Her eyes are lit from behind with fire, and Alec is afraid, because he is sure he has just crossed a point that won’t be easy to come back from, even if he doesn’t quite understand why.  
  
“We are half Angel,” she continues, “those creatures are not. There is a reason that the Angel thought to remind us that the descent into Hell is easy. Those creatures are not far from Hell, Alexander, and you’d do well to remember that.”  
  
Then, Alec just nods. He thinks _ that isn’t what it’s supposed to mean is it? _but with the echo of the slap still on his cheek, he turns and leaves, cold feet pattering back toward his bedroom.  
  
He doesn’t sleep that night, but when Maryse comes by for breakfast the next morning and ruffles his hair, he smiles.  
  
That was the fourth time that Alec had ever heard that phrase:_ facilis descensus Averno _.  
  
 He remembers because the fifth was the most important time, and the time when the meaning changed for him entirely.  
  
_ \---  
  
  
Alec gasped and jerked, fighting the urge to jump into a defensive stance. His fingers twitched toward a seraph blade that he expected not to be there, and he was surprised when his hand actually skimmed one on his hip.  
  
Right. He was a Shadowhunter here, too.  
  
Distantly he realized that he was surrounded by voices. _Focus, focus._ Where was he?  
  
He blinked, willing his eyes to work. There was green, and blue- water?- and faces…what was he sitting on? He felt wood against his bare legs. A picnic table, then.  
  
He could see the outline of the Institute to his left, but that hardly made sense. Since when did they have a picnic area with water outside of the Institute? That kind of thing wasn’t exactly Shadowhunter style.  
  
_Focus, Alec.  
_  
Suddenly, with an almost audible click, the picture sharpened.  
  
“-be inviting the Mayweathers” Maryse was saying. “Nobody quite likes them but they're an asset to have on your side, that's for sure.” She chuckled, and Robert slid an arm around her shoulder, grinning at her like she put the sun in the sky.  
  
Alec blinked, realizing he’d been spacing out. He was exhausted, to be honest. The party preparations were taking up a lot of his already limited free time lately, and with the dreams he’d been having the past few weeks…  
  
Still, he found himself laughing along, albeit a little darkly. The Mayweathers were absolutely a huge pain in the ass. But they were an old shadowhunting family, so of course it was necessary to have them there, especially at an event as important as this one.  
  
“Can we invite Aline?” Isabelle asked. She pulled her long brunette hair over one shoulder with a typical sense of dramatics that made Alec roll his eyes.  The dimming light sent shadows over her face, highlighting her cheekbones in a way that made her look almost a little bit unfamiliar. “And Helen, obviously” she added.  
  
Maryse nodded. “Of course sweetheart.”  
  
Alec huffed under his breath, quietly enough that he could be sure that no one heard him. Aline had better be coming. He needed an ally, someone that he didn’t have to fake excitement and sociability around. Not that he wasn’t excited about being engaged - he _was_ \- but he really hated social gatherings like this.  
  
Especially lately.  
  
“Now Alexander,” Maryse said, turning toward him. She sounded teasing, easy, compared to the commanding way she had been addressing him recently. It made him feel queasy.  
  
 She checked her watch and brought her gaze up to Alec's again. “Can you go find your fiancé for me please? He's been resting for over three hours, and you both should get some last minute preparations done tonight before bed.”  
  
Alec nodded rigidly. With the party tomorrow they would want to be well rested and-  
  
Wait.  
  
Fuck.  
  
_Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit_ Alec’s whole world suddenly shifted as he realized that this was wrong, it was all wrong, it was not him and this wasn’t his world and _what the hell just happened?_  
  
“My- uh- my fiancé” he said softly, like a question.  
  
Since when did he have a fiancé? Stupidly he found himself swivelling his head around, not even sure what he was searching for. Another Alexander she could be talking to? Magnus, hiding off somewhere with a wedding band? But he didn't see anything. So what-  
  
And then it hit him. Jace.  
  
He tilted his head carefully, looking subtly toward the middle of the picnic table. Gold. It was a centerpiece on the table. A framed picture, 11x10, of him and Jace, arms around each other, laughing for all the world to see. With a band around Jace’s finger.  
  
The picture was beautiful; happy and well-lit, posed while looking candid. But looking at it, all Alec felt was deeply sad.  
  
They were engaged in this dimension?  
  
Jace certainly left out that little detail. 

Maryse was staring at him with a soft smile, and Alec realized he hadn’t answered her yet. _I’m Alexander_ he whispered to himself in his mind, like a reassurance. _I’m only visiting this dimension. I’m Magnus’s Alexander.  
_  
He forced himself to laugh. “Yeah, well, you know how Jace is. I’ll uh, I’ll go get him.”  
  
Maryse nodded and Alec stood, mind reeling. It would make sense if Jace were resting somewhere- he’d said he was sleeping before he ended up in their dimension. But where would he be?  
  
Alec hesitated for a beat, staring over at this dimension’s Izzy, Robert and Maryse. Some part of him was expecting someone to start shouting accusations at him, or at least to notice that something was off. But the conversation continued and no one noticed him turning to leave.  
  
“Wait!”  
  
Alec froze as a loud male voice caught their attention, his blood running cold. Instinctively, he started calculating ways to fight or flee if he’d somehow been caught. But that would be impossible, wouldn’t it?  
  
How would anyone even know?  
  
Rigidly, one muscle at a time, Alec forced himself to turn and rejoin his this-dimension-family, standing next to the picnic table as a man came running toward them from the Institute.  
  
The man- an older active Shadowhunter, probably, with the beginnings of lines on his face but still in full gear- was panting heavily, but stood to attention as he got near their table.  
  
“Mrs. Lighwood” he wheezed, “I have urgent news.”  
  
Maryse stood up lithely from the picnic table and straightened to attention, hovering over the man in a way that exuded authority. Behind her, Alec was still frozen, hoping not to draw attention to himself but knowing that he couldn’t leave without doing just that.  
  
“Well? Spit it out” Maryse demanded.  
  
The man grimaced. “It’s Mr. Herondale, ma’am. He’s missing.”  
  
Alec’s first thought was _am I going to lose a Jace in every dimension I go to?_  
  
His second thought, however, was swallowed up in a hazy blackness as the other Alec forced his way back to consciousness again.  
  


\--  
  


Magnus woke up asleep.  
  
In truth, he woke up into a nightmare; it was one that he was not unfamiliar with.  
  
“Magnus, darling, wake up love.”  
  
“Magnus my sweet, aren’t you happy to see me?”  
  
“Don’t keep me waiting.”  
  
However, when Magnus felt the still-familiar press of a woman’s lips onto his own, with unusual gentleness, he realized that he wasn’t dreaming.  
  
Fuck.  
  
Briefly, his mind whirred, wondering how long he could pretend to stay asleep or if he could find a way to teleport himself to somewhere else- anywhere else- without her noticing. But then he remembered where he was, and who he was, and he knew that he couldn’t do that.  
  
Obviously, this world’s Magnus still had some kind of connection with this witch, so Magnus had to play that role. Great.  
  
Reluctantly, he opened his eyes. “Camille. Lovely to see you.” 

\----  
  
  
“What do you mean Jace is missing?” Alec demanded, pushing his way past his mother and into the Shadowhunter’s space. “Where is he?”  
  
The man, to his credit, didn’t flinch. He stared at Alec solidly. “We don’t know, sir. But he’s not in his room, and no one has seen him for a number of hours. There are rumours that he’s been kidnapped.”  
  
Alec felt a surge of adrenalin, and for a moment all he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears. Then he heard Maryse grinding her jaw, and he knew that he wasn’t going to like what came next.  
  
“I knew it” Maryse said, “I knew those damn Downworlders couldn’t leave things as they were. I should have had guards posted” she cursed, then turned to face Alec. “I should have protected you both better.”  
  
“What are you talking about?” Alec asked, struggling to keep his volume down. He could feel the familiar anger surging under his veins, the instinct to lash out, to _say this is your fault, all of it,_ but he knew that that type of insubordination would only hinder whatever he needed to do next to find Jace.  
  
Maryse actually looked a little contrite, if you squinted. “I had a feeling that someone would try something like this” she admitted, her tone still authoritative. “Your marriage to Jace is a big deal-“  
  
“I know that” Alec interrupted.  
  
Maryse grimaced, her lips pushing into a tight thin line. “Yes, well, that kind of political alliance- between the Lightwoods and the Herondales- could prove extremely advantageous for us. Our Institute was set to gain enormous political support, which meant funding, and decision making power-“  
  
“And the Downworlders wouldn’t want that” Alec finished, his own jaw set now. Of course. Those impulsive creatures could never leave things be; they didn’t recognize the natural order. Normally, Alec could ignore it for the most part, but now… well, now it put his parabatai and fiancé at risk.  
  
“Fuck” he swore, and immediately lowered his eyes at Maryse’s chastising- albeit half-hearted- glare.  
  
“Where was he last seen?” Alec asked, redirecting his attention to the man who’d delivered the news. The man immediately straightened at the attention.  
  
“His- your- bedroom, sir” he answered.  
  
Alec nodded, already moving. But a thought occurred to him, and he paused after a few steps, calling out without turning around. “What’s your name?” he asked the man.  
  
He could hear the older Shadowhunter clearing his throat. “Aldertree” the man replied smoothly. “Victor Aldertree.”  
  
Alec nodded and took off again toward the Institute, making a mental note to reward Aldertree for his quick discovery of Jace’s disappearance next time he was given the opportunity.  
  
\----  
  
  
Camille’s smile widened, showing off her pearly white teeth. She looked different, somehow, in this dimension, but Magnus supposed that that was to be expected.  
  
Still, he wasn’t naïve enough to think that maybe she wasn’t horrible in this universe. He knew her better than that.  He’d seen her undead soul, and it was unsalvageable, as much as he’d tried to salvage it over the centuries.  
  
“Magnus, my love! Napping in the middle of the day?” she taunted. “Your warlocks would be disappointed in you.”  
  
Magnus lacked the willpower to resist rolling his eyes. “Good morning to you too” he replied.  
  
Camille sat up gracefully, pulling her long hair to one shoulder. “It’s 5 in the afternoon, Magnus” she said smugly, “I know that you’re a miserable hermit and all, but even for you this is not exactly morning.”  
  
“What can I do for you Camille?” he asked, cutting straight to the point. He knew her well enough by now to know that she could play her games eternally if he let her.  
  
She smiled again, and with a jolt Magnus realized what was off about her. _No fangs._  
  
Magnus frowned. He’d partaken in interdimensional travel before, and he’d never seen something like that. In their universe, Camille would have been long dead by now if she hadn’t been turned.  
  
Knowing that it may be important, Magnus tucked that little detail into his mind to puzzle out for later. But for now, he decided to chalk it up to the universe’s cruel determination to force Camille into his life at every turn.  
  
“Oh, Magnus” she sighed, her voice like silk. “Do I need a reason to visit my favourite warlock?”  
  
So she was a mundane that still knew about the Shadow world?  
  
Magnus decided to play it cool. “Usually, you do” he replied tersely. 

Camille tilted her head, assessing him with a flash of humour behind her eyes. “Yes, well” she said, turning gracefully to sit herself down on Magnus’s bed with a soft plop. “It’s possible that I just wanted to check in on you.”  
  
Magnus sat up, turning to face her with an assessing stare. “Check in on me?”  
  
She was blushing lightly, her pale cheeks tinged with pink. “I’ve been worried about you. We all have.”  
  
Magnus felt his gut lurch. She seemed so- she seemed so _sincere_ , and Magnus had to fight every instinct to give in and believe her. He knew exactly how capable she was of sounding genuine, even when she had the illest of intents.  
  
But…  
  
No. It didn’t matter that they had a history, or that he still liked to believe that she’d truly cared for him, at least for a while. His relationship with her wasn’t important anyways, right now. What was important was finding Alexander, and then finding Jace.  
  
“Why’s that?” he asked carefully.  
  
Camille frowned, smoothing out her uncharacteristically hideous brown shirt with little of her usual flourish. “You’ve just been so disconnected lately” she said, her voice half-whine. “None of us have seen you.”  
  
Magnus felt a strange lurch in his stomach, along with a tingling behind his eyes that he recognized with a jolt of panic. The Magnus who’s body this belonged to was going to drag him under.  
  
Magnus blinked, reminding himself that he had done this before and he was perfectly capable of keeping his mental focus.  
  
He shook his head. “Is that unusual for me?” he asked, going for callousness to cover the genuine question.  
  
Camille sighed. “I suppose not. But Magnus,” she reached up and placed her hand on his cheek with a sense of entitlement and ease that only comes with familiarity. “My darling, you know that war is close between our people. The warlocks need you. We all need you.”  
  
Ah, shit. Magnus braced himself as another wave of that tingly, sleepy feeling overcame him, and he was sucked under for a moment.  
  
“Everyone always seems to need me” he said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “But it’s never been worth my time. So tell me, my _darling_ , why exactly should I waste another moment hitting my head against a rock that’s never going to budge?”  
  
Magnus tried to focus, knowing that he was dipping further and further into this haze. It wasn’t really _him_ who’d just said that, he knew, and yet he hadn’t quite lost focus yet.  
  
He was an all powerful warlock, for fuck’s sake. He’d done this before, and he knew that even if the other version of himself were to wade his way in for a time and take control, Magnus could still be aware. Perhaps that would have even been advantageous to try, for a time, if it wasn’t so risky.  
  
Camille bit her lip and nodded. “I know” she said quietly. “I just wish there was something more that we could do.”  
  
What a strange sensation, Magnus reflected, as he recognized both parts of himself reacting to Camille’s surprising earnestness. His true self felt a jolt of sympathy and not-quite-forgotten pain, while his counterpart merely felt… disdain?  
  
For the first time, Magnus truly wondered what exactly he was getting himself into. What was his parallel self like? He supposed he would start to find out, whether he liked it or not. 

\-------

  
Alec stalked toward the Institute. He was fuming; his mother had suspected that a kidnapping could happen, and she hadn’t mentioned anything?  
  
Honestly, Alec was going to lose it. He pushed out with his bond, hoping to connect to Jace, and immediately felt the flicker of pressure that told him that Jace was still alive, and conscious, if not much else.  
  
Hoping this was all just some sort of sick pre-engagement party prank, Alec opened the doors to the Institute on high alert. If Jace really had been kidnapped, then-  
  
Wait, the door handle… it was different?  
  
Alec blinked, shaking his head as he peered inside.  
  
And the Institute…  
  
_Oh. Oh shit._  
  
Alec felt a rush in his ears as he came back to himself with a jolt.  
  
He barely caught himself from stumbling, grasping onto the door tightly. _I’m Alexander. I’m Magnus’s Alexander._  
  
Damnit, damnit, god-fucking-damnit. This was getting dangerous. If he couldn’t keep himself from falling in to his other mind, then he needed to find this world’s Jace.  
  
Hopefully Jace wouldn’t be having any trouble remembering the details of their dimensional travel, and he could pull Alec back out whenever he started to slip. Otherwise, Alec might not get this lucky again, and he didn’t want to think what might happen if he let himself slip for too long.  
  
_Thank the Angel for whoever had decorated this Institute,_ Alec thought wryly. It occurred to him to wonder how other-Jace hadn’t been more confused when he had woken up in an institute that looked entirely more tame than his.  
  
Honestly, even the door handle was different.  
  
Inside the Institute, the walls and ceiling were covered with various red decals, flags and fabrics and paintings, contrasting regally with a gold background. It looked almost like a mundane church, or a medieval castle. Except for the fact that it was filled to the brim with up-to-date technology, even beyond that of which they had at Alec’s home Institute.  
  
How did anyone here get any work done, with all of these colours and patterns?  
  
But Alec didn’t have time to dwell on it.  
  
Of course, now that he’d snapped out of it, he knew that Jace hadn’t actually been kidnapped. At least, he hoped not.  
  
But where was he? Had something happened, when they’d gone through the portal?  
  
Taking a step in, Alec decided that the best way to approach this would be to simply act as though he belonged here, since this Alec presumably did belong here; he was pretty sure he remembered the other Shadowhunter- _what had his name been? It was familiar, I think_ \- calling him sir earlier.  
  
The memories of being “other Alec” were a little blurry, but he had still picked up that he was in a position of power here. So he would just have to act like it.  
  
Deciding to take a risk in the interest of time, he stepped up to one of the few Shadowhunters standing at a computer in the main lobby. It was a small brunette woman around Izzy’s age that Alec didn’t recognize; he hoped that he was just as antisocial in this dimension, because if other-Alec was friends with this girl, he was much more likely to be discovered.  
  
“Uh, hey” he started awkwardly.  
  
The girl looked up, furrowing her eyebrows. “Yes?” She was pretty, Alec realized, with a thin face and soft blue eyes, but the way she was carrying herself and looking at him gave him a distinctly Lydia vibe. He almost laughed.  
  
“Do you know where Jace is?” he asked. He was riding on the assumption that something as huge as a kidnapping would be classified information, until he or his mother decided otherwise.  
  
Apparently he was right. She rolled her eyes (definitely like Lydia). “In your room, probably.”  
  
Alec’s brain took an embarrassingly long minute to process why Jace would be in his room, and then he blushed.  
  
He bit his lip. “Yeah, funny thing though, I can’t remember where that is?”  
  
She tilted her head at him, distinctly suspicious, and then yelled “Josh!”  
  
\-- 

“Camille, what do I do?”  
  
Camille lifted her head up, startled. “I’m sorry?”  
  
Magnus sighed, adjusting the black t-shirt he’d found himself in when he portalled into this body. A little bland, for his taste, but he found that it reminded him of Alexander.  That- beyond providing him comfort- could help him to stay connected.  
  
“What can I do?” he asked her, having decided to throw caution to the wind in his bid for information. “About everything going on in the Downworld. I mean…” Magnus paused, trying to think of how to word this without sounding suspicious, “it’s not like I have that many allies left.”  
  
Camille shuffled forward, scooting herself toward Magnus until she was almost in his lap. He resisted the urge to push her off, which he found coming from both him and the consciousness of this world’s Magnus.  
  
At least he had something in common with his counterpart.  
  
“You have a few allies” she told him.  
  
Magnus tilted his head. “Like who, exactly?”  
  
Camille squinted her eyes at him, and Magnus tried to look nonchalant. “Like me” she said. “And many of the Downworlders beyond the border.”  
  
“Those aren’t true allies” Magnus chanced, feeling like he was dancing on a tight rope trying to wade into this Magnus’s understanding of the world without falling in. “They’re just desperate for change, and they’ll take anyone who will help them. That kind of loyalty is dangerous.”  
  
Camille rested her hand across his cheek again, and Magnus almost shuddered. There was a point in his life when he would have been comforted, enamoured, when she showed him physical affection, but not anymore.  
  
Not in any dimension.  
  
“The fact that you have ties with non-warlock Downworlders already says a lot” Camille assured him. Then she paused. “But what’s suddenly got you so interested in helping? Just a second you were saying there was no point to it.”  
  
Magnus knew she was right; he had to be more careful with how he was speaking.  
  
“Self-preservation” he decided on. Camille nodded knowingly.  
  
“What about the _Shadowhunters?”_ she asked, a distinct downturn of her lips at the word. “There was that boy you were dancing around…”  
  
Magnus felt a flash of fierce anger rush through his blood- one that wasn’t coming from him- and for the first time since he’d arrived in this dimension his magic crackled out of his hands.  
  
“Don’t” he warned her.  
  
This anger wasn’t his to control, so he’d have to stop her from provoking him. If he let himself be consumed by other-Magnus’s emotions, it was possible that he might lose himself entirely.  
  
“Mm... Alexander” Camille mused, seemingly determined to ignore Magnus entirely. “That was his name.”  
  
A vase shattered across the room, and Magnus knew that he’d have to end this. “Get out” he told her through clenched teeth. “I no longer want to see you.”    
  
_Alexander is the love of my life. Alexander and I live in another dimension, where Camille is locked up with the Clave. Alexander would never hurt me.  
_  
And she left. 

\---  
  
  
Alec blinked as he waited for whoever she’d called- Josh- to make an appearance. He was torn between relief over how easy that had just been, and terror that maybe Josh was actually some sort of Shadowhunter security guard who was going to drag him to the basement prison and throw away the key.  
  
Yikes.  
  
Expecting some sort of burley, scary looking dude, Alec was surprised when the man who came toward them was exactly the opposite. Maybe a couple of years younger than Alec, Josh was tall but thin and wiry, with dirty blond hair that flopped over his eyes in a way that exuded carelessness and nonchalance.  
  
Alec already didn’t like him.  
   
Josh flashed a charming grin as he rounded the stairs and came toward them, sending a particularly flirtatious wink in Alec’s direction.  
  
Yup, definitely didn’t like him. But since Alec didn’t know how this dimension’s version of himself felt about Josh, he resisted rolling his eyes- as he was itching to do- in favour of straightening and clearing his throat, hoping that it would be enough of a warning.  
  
“Josh” the woman said as he approached. “Can you show Mr. Lightwood to his room?”  
  
Josh flickered his eyes toward Alec, then looked back at the woman. “Demons again?” There was something in his tone that made Alec suspect that _demons_ wasn’t the word that Josh actually wanted to use.  
  
The women shrugged as if she really couldn’t care less. Alec guessed she probably couldn’t. “Just show him, please.”  
  
Josh nodded, sending another Cheshire cat grin in Alec’s direction as he offered Alec his hand. “Come on boss, I’ll get you there.”  
  
Alec pointedly ignored the hand, falling into step next to the Shadowhunter as they made their way down the hallway.  
  
“So... demon?” Alec asked, rubbing at the back of his neck a little awkwardly.  
  
Josh raised an eyebrow at him without missing a beat. “Yeah” he answered. “A bit of bad luck with those Kurari demons probably, it makes sense you know? Happens all the time, nasty memory effects.”  
  
Which… Kurari demons? Alec had never heard of that side effect from them before.  
  
So why was no one concerned that the head of their Institute couldn’t even remember the way to his own bedroom?  
  
Josh winked again, leaning toward Alec to stage whisper conspiratorially. “Used to happen to me all the time when I was younger, too, especially on Friday nights.”  
  
Alec tilted his head. “What does Friday night- oh. Oh.”  
  
Did they think Alec was a drinker? _Was_ Alec a drinker? Was it drugs?  
  
“Right” Alec stuttered out, because he definitely wasn’t going to ask.  
  
“Listen, Josh-“ Alec started. He was cut off abruptly as Josh grabbed his shoulders, and only his Shadowhunter grace saved him as he was swung around a corner, feeling his back slam against a wall.  
  
“What-“ Alec started, but cut himself off as Josh leaned forward into Alec’s space, bracketing him on both sides with his arms beside Alec’s head.  
  
“Have you missed me?” Josh purred.  
  
Alec frowned, remaining perfectly still as he calculated the best way out of this. “Missed you?”  
  
“Yeah” Josh moved in as if to bite Alec’s ear but paused at the last second, tilting his head up to make eye contact. “I’ve got some time off tonight, if you want to-“  
  
Feeling his pulse thudding in his ears, Alec snorted. “I’m engaged” he emphasized. It wasn’t like _he_ was actually engaged to Jace, but that didn’t mean he was okay with anyone treating his brother like this.  
  
Besides, he had Magnus, thank you very much.  
  
“Your ethics have never stopped you before” Josh said, and Alec felt his stomach roll uneasily.  
  
“Although” Josh added, moving to pull back out of Alec’s space. “You were always a stickler for the rules.”  
  
Alec nodded, straightening to show off his few inches of height over Josh. “Just back off” he snipped, but Josh’s smile only widened.  
  
“Fine” he sing-songed, tapping the wall behind Alec’s head as he turned. “Just let me know if you change your mind, yeah? Oh, and this is your room, by the way.”  
  
Alec watched as he sauntered off down the hall, holding back the waves of shame that didn’t even belong to him.  
  
He could contemplate the existential crisis that was his life later. Jace came first.  
  
Both Jaces.  
  
Unfortunately, Alec felt his stomach sink as he approached the spot that Josh had indicated; he knew before he even opened the door that Jace wouldn’t be in there. The room was silent, and his bond, while still shifting uncomfortably in the background, felt more tense than just sitting in a room would warrant.  
  
But it was worth a shot.  
  
Stepping in and taking a look around just to be sure, Alec grimaced as he ran a hand up into his hair. “Damnit.”  
  
_Wait._ Alec froze as an idea dawned on him, then promptly felt like an idiot. The basement! Jace had to be there. Something must have just happened after he’d come in…  
  
Deciding not to dwell on it, Alec turned tail and ran, making a beeline for the Institute basement.  
  
\------  
  
  
“Jace!”  
  
Alec ran into the room with startling speed, almost knocking over one of the Shadowhunters who were circled around Jace. All of whom were blocking Alec’s way, he noted bitterly.  
  
Including Maryse.  
  
“Mother?”  
  
Maryse turned toward him, her brow furrowed as she took in Alec’s sudden appearance. “What are you doing here?” she asked him.  
  
Alec pulled up short, only barely avoiding panting. “Jace” he said, as if it was an explanation- because it was- and tipped his head in the direction of where his this-universe parabatai was sitting on the floor, looking dazed as medical staff flitted around him.  
  
Maryse’s brow furrowed further. “How did you know that he was here?”  
  
_Here_ meant the basement. Specifically, the buried, dungeon-like room in the basement where Alec, Magnus and Jace had found the portal in Alec’s home dimension.  
  
Of course, Maryse couldn’t know that part.  
  
Alec shrugged, then straightened. “I should have been informed” he shot back.  
  
Maryse shook her head. “I’d sent someone up to find you, but making sure Jace was safe was a priori-“  
  
Alec shook his head again, cutting her off. “Don’t give me that” he said. “The medics are almost done their exam. It wouldn’t have taken that long for a runner to get me.” He strode forward again, pushing past Maryse. “Just let me through.”  
  
Jace looked worn and a little worse for wear, blinking dazedly up at his surroundings. His eyes seemed to lock on Alec as he approached, and Alec felt the familiar sense of protectiveness enveloping him as he took in who he now considered as a friend, lying on the ground before him, flushed and shivering.  
  
“Jace” he repeated, softer this time. He deliberately inserted himself into the spot of a nosy Shadowhunter guard as he crouched down. “Are you okay? What happened?”  
  
Jace looked at him warily. “I- I don’t know. I don’t know.”  
  
Alec felt his pulse jump as an important question dawned on him. “Do you remember… what’s going on? Who I am?”  
  
Jace blinked again, and Alec almost thought he wasn’t going to answer. And then “Of course, you’re my parabatai” Jace said, with an innocence that made Alec’s heart clench.  
  
“Besides” he added, with a trace of his usual cocky smile trying to peek through, “the doctors said that it seems like it’s only like, the last 24 hours or so that I can’t remember. So I’m a little out of it. But I’d never forget you, Alec.”  
  
Alec’s hope had been building when Jace had started talking, but as soon as he heard that last part, his stomach lurched and his resolve faltered.  
  
24 hours…  
  
Oh god.  
  
Alec had just lost an ally.  
  
\----  
  
  
Later that night, after Jace had been checked another three times by medical personnel (apparently this Institute didn’t allow Warlocks to check patients, which slowed down examinations immensely), and Alec had somehow convinced Maryse to let him and Jace stay in their regular room- _with at least eight guards outside the door, Alexander, and no one leaves without notifying me_ \- Alec and Jace found themselves sitting together on a bed, the atmosphere between them one of familiar exhaustion.  
  
“Are you sure you don’t remember?” Alec asked, for what had to be the fiftieth time in the last 10 minutes. He’d even resorted, once, to waving his hand in front of Jace’s face, as if that could break him out of whatever stupor he was in.  
  
To be fair, this just didn’t make sense. Not that Alec was an expert on interdimensional travel or anything, but as far as he knew there was no reason that Jace should have lost his memory when he’d come through the portal.  
  
Jace sighed, fond and exasperated. “No, Alec, I don’t. Now can we please get some sleep? Maryse reminded me that our party is tomorrow.”  
  
Alec tried for a hint of a smile. _I’m Magnus’s Alexander._ “Yeah, right, sure. You’re probably right.”  
  
Jace’s eyes softened for a moment, and Alec suddenly felt his hands enveloped by slightly smaller, warmer ones. “Is everything alright?” Jace asked gently. “You seem a little... off.”  
  
_You don’t know the half of it_ , Alec wanted to say. He also wanted to scream, a little, or even cry maybe. But what he said instead wasn’t a lie.  
  
“I’m worried about you.”  
  
_You, and my Jace, and now apparently every Jace to have ever existed because what if all of them are doomed to danger?_  
  
Jace studied Alec’s face for a moment, silently, and then nodded. “Okay. I think there might be something else you’re not telling me yet, but I won’t push. Let’s sleep, yeah?”  
  
Alec nodded, feeling his breathing steady just from being near his alternate dimension parabatai. Their bond still felt off, as though it was stretched tight; it was a little bit sorrowful if Alec looked too closely. But Alec didn’t want to look now.  
  
He was tired.  
  
Jace cleared his throat as Alec went to lie down. His smile was a softer version of his usual cocky one. “Uh, no… hanky-panky, tonight, okay?” he said, “I’m just a little shaken up.”  
  
Alec let out his breath, enormously relieved by having this problem that he didn’t even anticipate resolved. “Yeah” he blurted, perhaps a little too fast. “Yeah, that’s fine. Me too”  
  
Alec closed his eyes and tried not to grimace as Jace leaned in for a brief, chaste kiss.  
  
He somehow had the odd feeling that other-Alec wanted this just about as much as he did.  
  
Deciding not to linger on that either, Alec turned out the light. He and Jace would find Magnus tomorrow, and things would get better. For now he just needed to sleep. But as soon as he closed his eyes, he was accosted with a memory,  and a flurry of images and feelings jolted him into sitting upright again.  
  
It was the vision he’d seen earlier, when he’d gone through the portal.  
  
Facilis descensus Averno.  
  
 Except that it wasn’t a vision. It had been a memory. But who’s memory? His, or the other Alec’s?  
  
He wasn’t surprised to find that he didn’t know; he was surprised, however, to find that he didn’t actually care.  
  
Although Maryse seemed softer, kinder, in this dimension, Alec knew that she could be deceiving. Besides, whoever she was, she was a Shadowhunter above all else, and they were nothing if not completely black and white in their ideals.  
  
No, he didn’t care whose memory it was. He didn’t have a mother as far as he was concerned.  
  
All he wanted right now was Magnus.  
  
Sighing, Alec flopped back onto his bed and closed his eyes again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully it wasn't TOO confusing with the different versions of Magnus and Alec (although it should be a little confusing, especially since it was confusing for me to write so you should suffer with me ;p) 
> 
> Next chapter should be much sooner than this one. Also who's excited for the new episode tonight? *waves sparkler*
> 
> Come yell at me at wewalkadifferentpath.tumblr.com


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